


Lost Souls

by Katiebug586



Category: Shuriken School (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Collab, Fluff and Angst, Horror, Mild Gore, Most of this is just a bunch of in-jokes I have with my friend, Naginata's Redemption, Redemption, amalgamate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:22:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27356458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiebug586/pseuds/Katiebug586
Summary: "EIZAN!""NAGINATA!"Caught in the middle of a ninja scuffle, the two had no time to react.Collab with my friend.
Kudos: 7





	1. The Nightmare Begins

Thick rain drenched the city of Tokriohama. It had been raining for three days straight, no break in the storm. The city streets were flooded and the rain poured into the lake. The barely visible grey clouds flashed lightning and thundered as if the world was coming to an end.

Nobody in their right mind would be out in this kind of storm unless they absolutely had to. There were some people, however, who had no choice but to brave the storm.

“Give it up, Eizan!” Naginata grunted, foot on the other boy’s chest. “Just give us the recipe and this all ends!”

“Never!” Eizan snarled, safely tucking the ziplock bag with the aforementioned ‘artifact’ further into his uniform’s sleeve, which was getting more and more soaked as the seconds passed. “Come on, Naginata. Couldn’t you wait until after the rain stopped and  _ then _ try to mug us? I’m freezing, aren’t you?”

“Maybe, but I’m not a whiny baby,” the taller boy retorted, “so, If you know what’s good for you, you’ll be an obedient little ninja and hand over the melon bread recipe, you wouldn’t want me to use the  _ thing, _ now, would you?”

“The thing?” Eizan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, the… the thing!” Naginata glanced at one of his comrades for assistance, “Isn’t that right, Bruce? Isn’t the  _ thing _ so scary that we can’t even mention what it does out loud?”

“Oh, yeah! It can’t even be mentioned by its actual name or else you’ll go mad!” Jimmy used the distraction and roundhouse-kicked Bruce in the face, “Ow! You little-”

“The thing, huh? Well, I got a thing too, it’s called this!” Eizan pushed Naginata’s leg from under him, causing the taller boy to fall over. Getting up, they dusted their wet uniform off and took a defensive stance. “Ready when you are,  _ Nagi.” _

_ “NOBODY CALLS ME THAT!” _

Naginata lunged at Eizan, tackling them onto the ground. The two began to wrestle with one another, as the rain continued to pour, drowning out the screams coming from their respective comrades.    
  


“Eizan! Be ca…”

“Nagina...out!”

The two got back up, staring one another down.

“I’m not going to let you take it, Naginata. You might as well give up now.”

“And surrender to a pathetic little nerd like you? As if! I’m only going to tell you this once, EIzan Kaburagi. Ninjitsu is about the survival of the fittest. And it’s about time we prove that you and the pitiful little broom closet that calls itself a school are too weak to survive.”

Eizan glared, anger rising within his soul. He was about to make a comeback when a loud and jarring  _ HONK _ broke them from their staredown. 

“EIZAN!”

“NAGINATA!”

“Wha…” He heard Naginata say before he turned around and saw the blinding light of a city bus speeding towards the two. They looked at one another with absolute horror, but there was no time to say anything or get out of the way. There was a jarring pain as it slammed into Eizan and then nothing.

The first thoughts that came to Eizan’s mind as he opened his eyes were  _ ‘Am I dead?’ _ , but as his vision adjusted, he saw that the blinding light pointed towards him wasn’t the warm, inviting kind he had always imagined would greet people upon death, but rather a cold, pallid substitute of a hospital room’s lighting system.

So he  _ wasn’t _ dead, that was a relief.

“Eizan!”

He looked for the source of the noise and saw his two best friends in the whole wide world sitting there, right by his bedside. How… How long have they been sitting there, waiting for him to wake up? The thought warmed his heart, but...what about the bus? He and Naginata…

“Guys…?” he croaked out, his voice hoarse from who knows how long of not using it, “What happened? I… there was a bus… Naginata…”

“Listen, man, you  _ were _ hit by a bus, but you’ll be just fine.” Jimmy rubbed his neck, a forced smile on his face.

“You will!” Okuni said, the same smile forcing itself on her face, “The doctor told your mom and dad you’ll be back to ...well, pre-accident you before you know it, and that you’ve been really lucky to even surv...to come out of this as well as you have.”

“Do...my mom and dad…are they here?” They’d had time to call his parents? He’d been out of it for a long time, then. Eizan’s stomach twisted with guilt. He’d probably made them worry themselves to death. He made a mental note to help out his dad with orders as soon as he got discharged. 

“Yeah, man! They checked on you a bit ago, but they got busy with the shop, so they left. They’ll be back soon, don’t worry!”

Well, that was a relief… but there was still one question burning on his mind. “What… What about Naginata, he’s fine, right?”

The two of them immediately sweatdropped upon hearing his question, as if there was something they were hiding. But what could it be? He survived, and with barely any injuries, even, so who's to say Naginata couldn’t too? Perhaps… Perhaps the boy was hurt worse? Maybe a broken leg or two? Oh man, next time they met, Naginata was going to  _ kill _ the boy for getting him hit by a bus. The wounded ninja might as well start writing his obituary.

“Naginata?” Okuni sucked in a breath, the cheesy grin fading, “He’s… He’s  _ fine. _ ”

_ “Okuni, stop lying.” _ Jimmy growled out, the smile outright disappearing from his face. 

“What am I supposed to tell him?! That Naginata is-”

“Listen, if he got hurt worse than me, then just say it.” Eizan said, fidgeting with his gown, “I already know he’s going to kill me as soon as we’re both out of here, so I have to be prepared.”

“Eizan, he’s… he’s  _ DEAD, _ okay?!” Jimmy snapped, and then covered his mouth in horror.

“Jimmy! I thought we’d agreed…” Okuni hissed, then, her furious scowl dropping as she turned towards their friend on the bed. “Eizan…”

Jimmy grimaced. “Man...I know this is a shock and I know you and him had that foe-yay thing that I doubt anybody would be able to replicate, but I figured we’d be the best people to tell you, that or your parents, instead of some creepy and completely inconsiderate dude in a white coat.”

“And we thought it’d be better to ease into the topic, but now that this  _ didn’t _ happen” Okuni added, glaring at Jimmy, “then maybe it’s for the best that you know it sooner rather than ...uh, later.”

“But it would sure help if you said som...ouch! Okuni, I’m serious! It would!”

The shell-shocked boy looked back and forth between his two friends. For a second, the sound of the nurses chatting outside, their shoes clicking on the floor as they walked down the corridor, was all that anyone heard, the air still and thick with tension. That was until Eizan finally spoke, as everything reached a boiling point.

“You guys are the  _ WORST!  _ Naginata put you up to this, didn’t he?! You might as well go and tell him that it worked! Boom, he has officially gotten his revenge for me accidentally landing us both in the hospital! Well played, Naginata, well played!”

They both stared back at him, eyes wide. “Huh?”

“Wow, what a prank! Nevermind any other harmless prank, huh?! Like I could see you, well, mostly Jimmy, switching room numbers around, but this? This is cruel! This is something I could see Katana pulling off, but not you guys! I can’t believe you two would do this!”

“Eizan, listen…” Okuni began when Jimmy cut her off.

“Dude, we’re serious. He’s dead. Naginata is dead. You’re right, we  _ wouldn’t _ do this. So when we say he’s dead, we  _ mean he’s dead.” _

“And throughout, you two…” Eizan stopped short from his rant, staring back at his friends’ stern expressions. His stomach dropped. “You’re serious,  _ aren’t you?” _

They nodded. 

“There was nothing they could do, Eizan, the doctors said he was dead on impact,” Okuni’s voice trembled slightly, “And he was the one who was closest to the bus anyway, had he survived, the doctors said he would most likely be stuck in some kind of vegetative state. Even given the chance that he would be able to wake up and move around, he likely would have suffered severe brain da-”

“ENOUGH!” Eizan yelled, covering his ears. “Please! I...I...I don’t want to hear it anymore. I...I killed him! He’s dead because of me! I’m a  _ monster!” _

As soon as he said those words, a familiar noise ricocheted in his ears. 

_ “EIZAN!” _

_ “NAGINATA!” _

_ “Wha…” Naginata’s eyes widened. The struggle for the survival of the fittest forgotten, Eizan looked in the same direction. The light was the first thing he saw, blinding and terrifying. He didn’t have time to wonder if it would be the last, too, as, when he looked back at Naginata, the bus was already crashing into them, the impact tearing them apart. Pain broke out across his body, the burning feeling spreading from his fingertips to his toes.  _ _  
  
_

_ “Ugh…” _

_ The groan lasted a split second, but that was enough to redirect his gaze to his sworn enemy. His eyes were open wide, with a look that Eizan had never seen on him before, none of the usual malice present. Just pure, unadulterated fear. That is until he heard the crack, like of twigs being snapped. He opened his mouth to scream, but the pain got the better of him, and his vision colored with red. Black followed soon after.  _

If Eizan wasn't crying before, he was now, the vivid memory of that day etched into his mind like a scar, raw and bleeding. He didn't want to believe it. His friends wouldn't lie to him. Not about this. Not about anything, to tell the truth.

“I...” he blubbered, trying to control his crying, “The  _ bus.” _

“It wasn’t  _ your _ fault, Eizan. It wasn’t anybody’s!” Okuni tried to comfort him.

“But it was, Okuni! It  _ was!”  _ Eizan sniffled, wiping his teary eyes with his hand, “If I hadn’t been fighting with him, we wouldn't have wound up on the streets and that bus wouldn’t have hit us! Naginata… would still be  _ here.” _

“If anything, it’s  _ Naginata’s _ fault that-” Jimmy started to say, only to see his two friends glaring at him.

_ “Jimmy.” _

“What? Come on, Okuni. That guy shouldn’t have been a huge, pompous jerk to us to begin with, both him and his little Mean Girls-style posse. And he certainly shouldn’t have lunged at Eizan and pushed him into the street! Honestly, Mr. Regina George was asking for-  _ Oh.  _ Bad choice of words, huh?”

The two stared at him and tried to comprehend what he had said.

“Can I  _ please _ be left alone?” Eizan asked, staring at the plain bed sheets that covered his petite frame. There seemed to be a couple of bruises on his arms and body, but other than that, it felt like the aftermath of any of his regular ninja scuffles. It begged the question; How come he got out of this with barely a scratch, but Naginata died? “I’ll be fine, I… just need some time to think about stuff.”

He was lucky, wasn’t he? But he didn’t  _ feel _ lucky,  _ not at all. _

“That’s probably for the best,” Okuni said before grabbing her partner, “Besides, I need to teach Jimmy a lesson about keeping his mouth shut and not being an insensitive  _ moron!” _

"Hey, I was just being honest! Honesty's the best policy and all that stuff!"

"You're going to learn that it's not when I'm done with you! Come on!”

She wasted no time in shoving Jimmy out the door, the latter only being able to mumble out a goodbye before the door shut behind the two, leaving Eizan alone in the hospital room.

He didn’t know how long he stared at the musty ceiling tiles for, moping in his thoughts, but it felt like an eternity and then some. The eerie silence was starting to make him feel a bit uncomfortable, so he grabbed the TV remote and started flipping through channels.

“We'll start off by cutting the potatoes into even slices, so each-” 

_ *Click* _

"The common house cat, one of the most popular pets to date. Although thought to be adorable and cuddly, this creature-”

_ *Click* _

"I can't take this anymore! You're such an insensitive jerk, why did I ever fall in love with you?"

_ *Click* _

"And that's how I deciphered the ancient symbols, proving we are not alone in this universe."   
  


_ *Click* _

"Try our new flavor; Garlic and Juniper Berry!”

Dang it, there was nothing good on! It was mostly cheap infomercials, TV shows he had no interest in watching, reality shows or news reports, none of which were really interesting to him. All of this mindless channel surfing only made him feel worse. He desperately wanted to take his mind off of the events currently unfolding, but it felt  _ wrong  _ whenever he tried to do so. The elephant in the room would sit there in the corner, relentlessly verbalizing its intentions to crush him, just like Naginata would have done, had they survived.

Letting out a distressed sigh, he turned the TV off and placed the remote back onto the nightstand. The quiet atmosphere of the room was killing him, but he didn't want to turn on the TV again. Noticing a magazine on the table, the boy decided to see if that could help him take his mind off of things.

He flipped through the pages of ‘Tokriohama Daily’, reading an article titled ‘How to Deal With a Breakup’. As clichéd as the title was, it actually gave some pretty sound advice. But not even that could snap him out of his funk, nothing could. Tossing the magazine aside, he laid out on the bed and resumed staring at the ceiling tiles.

“What were you  _ thinking _ ?!”

Jimmy winced at Okuni's hushed but harsh scolding.

“I was trying to make him feel better!”

“By telling Eizan that Naginata deserved to get hit by the bus and that he should just forget about them?! Even if they were a huge jerk to us, that doesn’t change the fact that they’re a  _ person, _ just like us, a  _ child! _ We’re  _ all  _ children! Heck, Eizan even witnessed the incident, can you imagine how harrowing that must be for him?”

The words sunk into the young boy's head, causing him to reflect on his previous actions and how inconsiderate they were. He was only trying to make Eizan feel better, but he ended up making the situation worse for his friend.

“Hey, Okuni I-”

He paused, hearing a sniffle. Turning around, he saw Okuni’s eyes start to water as she stared at her shaking hands.

_ “We’re… only children.” _

Sensing an emotional breakdown coming up, he wordlessly guided her to some chairs nearby Room 44.

Sniffling, she sat down and gazed at her lap, tears glistening in her eyes.

“It’s… It’s not fair,” she hiccuped, “why do we have to keep fighting one another? Who cares if we come from a different school or if we’re better at one thing than the other? We should be helping each other out, instead of trying to harm one another! Look at where this pointless rivalry has gotten us! Naginata’s  _ dead _ and Eizan…”

“It’s not because of anything  _ we _ did,” Jimmy added, sitting down next to her, “It’s Katana’s dumb, terrible principal! If he didn’t run that school and maybe someone like  _ our _ principal did, perhaps Katana wouldn’t feel the need to attack us every other day!  _ We’re _ not the ones bullying them, we’re just retaliating.”

She wiped her nose with her sleeve and leaned against Jimmy. “I… guess. It just stinks that there’s nothing  _ we _ can do to stop it. That despite all of our training, we’re powerless in the fight against our own kind! Because of it, people have gotten hurt, though I doubt  _ one _ kid’s death will mean that  _ much  _ to Katana.”

“Maybe not the principal, but Bruce and the others seemed pretty torn up by it,” he grimaced, remembering Bruce, the twins, and even Doku, trying to wake up Naginata, as a crowd started to gather around the two groups. The way Bruce tearfully screamed Naginata’s name, begging him to wake up, would forever scar Jimmy’s mind, who, on the other hand, was helping Okuni check on Eizan, who still had a pulse, thankfully. “The point is, we shouldn’t worry about who we’re fighting and for what reason and why. It really  _ does _ stink, but there isn’t anything we can do right now, so why put that kind of pressure on yourself? We should worry about helping Eizan,  _ not  _ worrying about the status of our school.”

Okuni sighed. “You… think Eizan will be okay?” 

"Don't worry, he’s a big boy. He can handle himself."

She looked down, a doubtful frown on her face. “I don’t know, Jimmy.”

Jimmy looked back towards the door of Eizan’s hospital room. Muted noises and bits and pieces of sentences coming, no doubt, from the room’s television could still be heard. Truth was, he didn’t know either. 

He was taken by surprise as Okuni hugged him tightly, eyes still somewhat wet. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but thanks, Jimmy.”

He hugged her back. “You’re welcome.”

They’d be alright. And Eizan would too.

“Excuse me,” they heard a voice say and looked up to see a doctor, “you’re that boy’s friend, aren’t you? Eizan, is it?”

“Yeah, we know he’s fine, thanks for-”

The doctor cut Jimmy off. “I’m not here for  _ him, _ precisely, but I have some news on his friend, Naginata.”

“One, we  _ know _ Naginata is dead, two, he’s not exactly our-”

“JIMMY!”

“I mean, unfortunately, he’s dead, but there’s not much we can do, we’re afraid. We don’t even have his parents’ numbers. You might want to ask that one boy without a shirt in the parking lot, if…”

“We already have his parents’ numbers. The truth is, last night,” the doctor looked through their notes, “somebody broke into the morgue and stole your friend’s body. We don’t know who, or what they want, but since you’re friends with the kid  _ and _ Eizan, I figured it would be practical to inform you.”

The two in-training ninjas glanced at one another in horror. Who… Who would do such a thing? And what would they tell Eizan?!

“That’s how I met your mother.”

Canned laughter gave way to the cheery music, but Eizan wasn’t listening anymore. The images rolled one after the other in one big melted mess of an abomination they called television. But everything was covered in a layer of greyness, dripping over any enjoyment he might have gotten out of it any other day.

“Eizan?”

The door creaked, and Jimmy’s face peeked from the small opening, light filtering into the darkened room. Eizan squinted, covering his face with an arm.

“Yeah?”

“We… got some news for you.”

“Let me guess, murder hornets from space have invaded the planet? That’s the only kind of news that could be  _ worse _ from what I’ve been told.”

He heard a sigh coming from behind Jimmy.

“No, Eizan, it’s… okay, well, it’s not  _ worse _ than that,” Okuni spoke, her tone of voice unusually soft, “It’s about Naginata.”

“I know, he’s  _ dead  _ and he’s not coming back. You guys told me this already. If you want shock value, you’re not getting it.”

“No, it’s…” Okuni sighed again, her eyes darting back to Jimmy. 

“Someone stole his body.”

The boy looked at Jimmy, confused. “What do you mean  _ stole _ it?”

“He means exactly what he said. The doctor told us, they didn’t know who, but someone broke into the hospital’s morgue last night and made off with his body.”

“...You have  _ got _ to be kidding me.”

Eizan groaned, grabbing a pillow and shoving it over his face. From bad to worse. He just  _ had _ to jinx it with his stupid, clumsy mouth.

Meanwhile, at a certain school in the deepest and darkest parts of the town, a hardened warlord-turned-principal argued with a mysterious and ghostly creature.

“I don’t pay you to lecture me about consequences, Mahōtsukai. I pay you, and handsomely might I add, to do what you are told to do.”

The shadowy creature shook their head, a movement accompanied by what a mere mortal might have perceived as a waft of sulfur wind.

“This spell…” they began, their voice sounding like crushed dead leaves, yet also like it came from the deepest pits of the Underworld. 

“I already know all there is to know about the spell! I know enough to know that you can perform it. And that you are refusing to. Why? What is so different about this than any of the other spells you’ve performed? You’ve turned women into pig-creatures without so much as a word, you’ve ravished entire villages, all at my beck and call. Are you telling me you have moral qualms about this when you have destroyed entire families like one would crush pesky flies?”

“Master, it is not that I have empathy for such… worthless lifeforms, but even I know that such a spell is nigh impossible to get right. Reversing such damage is no simple task, bringing back a deceased soul is even harder. The results might not be what you would like.”

“So? If these so-called ‘ _ failed results’ _ aren’t up to my standard, I have quite a couple of people I can toss the problem over to.”

The creature’s lips parted, almost like they were sighing, but no air came out. 

“Very well.”

The potent being’s hands lit up as they prepared the spell, incanting ancient words that could defy the laws of mother nature and the cycle of life itself.

Naginata’s body laid limp on the steel table. His eyes were closed, the dark circles under them looking even darker than when he had been alive. But as the warlock approached the deceased body, the dark circles appeared to rhythmically glow on and off, as if there was the tiniest bit of life still in them.

_ This would not end well for anybody. _


	2. Haven't You Done Enough Saving By Now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is a ref to one of my fav songs, 'Ordinary Man'. Not the one by Ozzy Osborn but the one by Coulton.

_“EIZAN!”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“NAGINATA!”_ _  
_ _  
_ _Eizan felt his heart drop into his stomach, as the bus sped up towards them, its blinding lights canceling out their surroundings. He looked back at his rival, his sworn enemy, and saw that they looked just as petrified as he did._

_It all felt so familiar, like a scene in a DVD that someone kept rewinding over and over for some reason, telling their friends ‘This is my favorite part!’, though who in their right mind would like THIS as their favorite part of a movie?_

_He had to do something._

_Eizan reached out to grab Naginata and pull them out of the way, but as if the universe wanted to mock him and his attempt at being a good-natured person, either his hand was moving unnaturally slow or the person driving the bus of death and destruction decided to kick it into high gear and speed it up._

_The bus’s pace quickened, Eizan’s hand still halfway between himself and Naginata. Shuriken had taught him that fear was one of the true roadblocks on the path to become a ninja. There was no situation in the universe that one couldn’t bypass or evade, or vanish into a cloud of smoke in front of. A ninja always had the opportunity to save their life, but only if they didn’t let fear get in the way. Which, to Eizan, had made sense. But as the bus sped up even more, he realized nobody had ever told him anything about overcoming fear while saving the life of someone who is just as terrified as you are. Maybe it was impossible, or he was just unworthy of the title of ninja, for even needing a guide for that._

_“I’m sorr-”_

_His sentence was cut short by the city bus crashing into them at full speed, the last thing he heard before his world went black was Naginata screaming in agony._

“AH!”

Eizan jumped up in fright, shaking slightly.

He looked around his dorm room, trying to stabilize himself. Jimmy’s stereo gleamed in the sunlight and birds chirped outside. Eizan rubbed his eyes and tried to find Jimmy’s sleeping form. It wasn’t unusual for his friend to sleep in on the weekends, even on, the boy would even manage to sleep in random corners of the room, especially nowadays. But he was nowhere to be found. What...what time was it?

“And then, I was like, I’m the best skateboarder this town has ever seen!”

“Sure you are, Jimmy.”

He heard voices outside. Specifically, his _friends’_ voices.

“I am! Find me someone who can do…”

The door was pushed open, and Jimmy stepped in, his skateboard under his arm. Weren’t they supposed to be in class? Wait, it was a _Saturday,_ that’s right. The days seemed to just blend together in one amalgamated mess and Eizan wasn’t even sure what month it was anymore. April? May?

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Jimmy casually responded, chuckling to himself, “Sleep well?”

“Morning, Eizan!” Okuni waved, holding a book in her arm. Typical Okuni, studying even on days she’s not _meant_ to study. 

“Morning guys,” the boy responded, rubbing his eyes, “and to answer Jimmy’s question, _no, I did not sleep well.”_

_“Oh._ Anyways, me and Okuni were planning on going to the mall to get a soda, you wanna come?”

“It’s Okuni and _I._ Paying attention to Kubo when he speaks about proper grammar is _not_ going to kill you.”

“You don’t know that! Maybe that’s the plan all along, maybe he’s actually evil and he’s trying to kill us with proper punctuation and apostrophes! I _know_ that man is up to something! How can someone his age be _so short-”_

Eizan sighed as he watched the two bicker amongst themselves.

“Come on, Cinderella, you can’t stay up in your tower forever! You’re lucky that Kubo is such a pity-party thrower.”

Okuni opened her mouth to correct the boy but then decided against it, turning to Eizan instead. “I hate to agree with Jimmy’s _very, very_ crudely worded statement, but...some fresh air might benefit you.” 

Eizan groaned, leaning back on his pillow. “Guys, I’m _really_ not in the mood.”

Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Oh, believe us, we _know_. But-”

“Don’t you have anything better to do? I should _probably_ try to get some more sleep.”

He was about to add that maybe they could schedule the soda for another time, but bit his tongue. He wasn’t sure if he would ever be up for another time. Not today, not this week, not ever.

Okuni nodded. Ah, wise, understanding Okuni. Thank you for at least _trying_ to see his point of view. “Which is why you’ll go to sleep early tonight and wake up refreshed tomorrow. But for now, you’ll have to face this!”

She covered her eyes and Eizan frowned. What was she trying to... _oh no_. His stomach dropped. He looked over at Jimmy, who raised an eyebrow, a sly grin on his face. If his best friend wasn’t willing to work with him, then he’d have to stand up for himself in the literal face of adversity.

“Okuni, seriously, it won’t work. I…”

She uncovered them and he stifled a gasp. No. It couldn’t be. She couldn’t stoop so low.

His best friend was pouting, looking at him with huge blue eyes.

“Come on, Eizan. Please? For me? You… You wouldn’t want to make me upset, would you? Oh, woe is me! Wounded by the inability of my fellow man!”

“...Fineeeee,” he groaned out, “I’ll go. Just stop doing that!”

She grinned, melodramatic tension vanishing in a millisecond. “I’m glad you’ve changed your mind. Now, let’s go!”

“Uhm, I still have to get _dressed_ first.”

“Oh, right. Well, don’t take too long! The soda won’t drink itself!”

It was a nice day to be out, Eizan could say that, at the very least. The rainstorms that tormented the town and city merely a month ago had finally stopped, allowing the clouds to break up and the sun to shine its light and warmth on the busy streets.

The three of them walked down the sidewalk passing by people and cars as they made their way to the mall. Eizan couldn’t help but gaze at the road as they walked by, watching the numerous cars go back and forth on the busy street. They weren’t… a certain type of vehicle, but something about the stretch of road just made him feel sick to his stomach.

Jimmy noticed their friend’s discomfort and what they were gazing at, so he jumped to the rescue. “Hey, Eizan! Uh… Uh… what’s your favorite kind of soda? Mine’s… Mine’s…root beer? I can’t choose, I like them all! Except for orange pop, that stuff’s _nasty_.”

“Huh?” Eizan glanced away from the street, “Oh. Yeah, I can’t really choose. I mean, if someone held me down and forced me to pick one, I guess I would pick regular soda?”

“You two have _no_ taste,” Okuni muttered, shaking her head, “It’s a little known fact that cherry-flavored soda is superior to all others.”

“Is that so?!” Jimmy growled, jumping in front of her, “Says who? A pretentious study by some sweaty undergraduates at the University of Okuni?”

“ _No, it’s called my opinion,”_ they replied, pushing past Jimmy, “We all have them, Jimmy. You think your opinion is the right one while I think _my_ opinion is the right one.”

“I’ll shove _my_ opinion up your-”

“Guys, guys!” Eizan interrupted, “We can fight about soda flavors later, for now, we gotta get to the mall!”

“You got a date or something?”

“Very _funny,_ Jimmy. It’s just… It’s… complicated.”

They gave one last quick glance over to the road, a small shiver setting in. It _wasn’t_ complicated, his friends _knew_ what was up, but he didn’t want to seem like an annoying burden, especially to _them,_ so he kept his worries quiet.

Thankfully, they seemed to get the memo.

“Don’t worry about it,” Okuni replied, a small smile on her face, “we understand.”

“Yeah, man! We got your back!”

Ever thankful for their endless support, Eizan tried his best to give them a genuine smile. “Thanks, guys. I owe you one.”

The three of them walked in silence for the remainder of the trip, each one lost in their own thoughts. Eizan was glad that he had such understanding friends, but at the same time, he was annoyed with himself for being such a nervous wreck.

Despite the trouble it took to get there, all of Eizan’s plights seemed to melt away as he sipped his soda, regular-flavored. Okuni’s and Jimmy’s continuing quarrel about the ‘better flavor of soda’ felt _way_ more like the normalcy that he was used to.

"Cherry's way better than root beer!"

"Are you hearing yourself talk right now? Root beer’s clearly better!”

Eizan couldn't help but chuckle at the two, shaking his head. The two of them were like siblings, always at each other's throats over something stupid.

“Woah.”

He blinked up at Jimmy and took another sip of soda. “What?”

“Nothing, man, it’s just…”

“We haven’t heard you laugh in a while.” Okuni continued, a soft smile replacing her scowl. 

Eizan soon found himself smiling back.

Jimmy stretched and stood up from his chair. 

“And since the weather’s okay and we are all feeling happy as can be, what do you say we get some fries to go and take the scenic route back?”

“ _Only_ if Eizan’s feeling up to it.”

The aforementioned boy got up, his stomach rumbling. “I’ll be fine, Okuni, promise.”

“Plus Eizan’s looking like a twig! When’s the last time you had something to eat?” Jimmy asked them.

Jimmy’s idea hadn’t been a bad one. The ‘scenic route’ was crowded with kids running, families playing, couples walking hand in hand. The smell of the box of warm fries in his hands invaded his nostrils, Okuni and Jimmy had started another discussion on which sauce was better, but fortunately, that one hadn’t continued when they got to the park, mixing with the smell of roasted peanuts from a nearby stand. The day exuded summer, fun, and even Eizan found that his heart felt a little lighter. 

Maybe he would be okay. Maybe the greyness would keep hanging over him, little droplets of dread hitting him on the head at unexpected times, but days like these could make it all a bit more bearable. _He was lucky that he could still experience them_. His stomach dropped at the thought, but before the feeling could settle in, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Jimmy! Those fries are to share!” Okuni protested before she took a handful. 

Eizan smiled at his friends as they kept walking and gingerly took a fry from the greasy box. 

They had walked past the playground and the football field, only a couple cyclists looking at the trio curiously, wondering why three kids had walked this far when all the fun stuff, not to mention all the people, were in the first two-thirds of the park. And, truth be told, the boy was starting to wonder that too.

“Where was that shortcut again?” he asked Okuni. 

She took another fry, scanning past the trees: “Close. We just need to go left, then right…”

“Then pass the fire hydrant and boom! We’ll be on Mars.”

Eizan let out another giggle at his friend’s snarky comment. They would be alright in the end, as long as they had each other.

“I’ll race you two to the school!” 

Before the two could object to his offer, Jimmy had already shoved the container of fries into his shirt and started sprinting down the dirt path, giggling maniacally to himself. “Last one there is a rotten egg!”

“Should we go after him?” Eizan asked.

_“You’re on.”_

The breeze felt nice and refreshing for the budding ninja as he raced after his friends. It wasn’t something he was new to, but it was something he hadn’t felt in a while, that was for sure. The cold wind against his face, the shrill laughs of his friends in the distance, well, mostly _Jimmy’s_ laughs, Eizan didn’t realize how much he missed it.

But did he deserve such happy moments after everything he went through? Why did _he_ get to be the one to enjoy such moments when-

As the questions continued to plague his fragile mind, his foot connected with an overgrown root, causing him to tumble face-first into the jagged dirt.

The ‘race’ all but forgotten, Okuni and Jimmy rushed to his aid, pulling him up.

“Eizan! Are you alright?”

“Yeah, that looked like it _hurt.”_

He got up, shaking the dirt off from his clothes as he tried to ignore the slight taste of blood in his mouth from where he had accidentally bit his lip. “I’m fine, guys.”

“You sure?”

_“Fine as fine can be, Jimmy.”_

“Alright, then meet you at school! 

“Hold it, _Speedy Gonzales,”_ Okuni said, narrowing her eyes at Jimmy, “Do we have to make everything some kind of huge competition? Why don’t we just walk _with_ Eizan like what we _were_ doing? I can see the school in the distance, it’s not going to kill us to walk like _normal people_ and not sugar-crazed eleven-year-olds.”

“But we are eleven- _fine._ But I’ll have you know that _I,_ the great and mighty Jimmy, would have won anyway. So I understand, you want to save your breath instead of getting embarrassed when I just so _happen_ to win by a landslide.”

Okuni shook her head, but Eizan could see the smallest trace of a smile on her face.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, save for the occasional lamentation by Jimmy about ‘what an absolute shame it was that he didn’t get to show off his speed skills’ and Okuni telling him that being the fastest is _not_ what makes a ninja a _good_ ninja. Eizan added in a word or two every now and then, but was silent for the most part and would instead stare at the sky and trees as if waiting for a bear or wolf to attack the group and tear them all limb from limb.

Thankfully, such a grisly fate didn’t occur and they made it to Shuriken safe and in one piece. Despite the surprisingly nice day he had, Eizan’s legs burned from over-exhaustion after weeks of inactivity, and all he wanted to do was get back to his dorm and sleep it off.

But mother nature had other plans.

As the group approached the school doors, a mysterious and eerie noise broke the silence.

It sounded like a low wail, faint and on the verge of breaking but unmistakable. It was too small to come from a human (luckily), but it was still there. Eizan’s brows furrowed. A wounded animal, perhaps?

“Do you guys hear that?” 

Okuni nodded: “Yeah, it...it’s coming from the pond!” 

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go check it out!”

As he and his friends set off, he heard Jimmy mutter, “I swear, you and your Chronic Helping Syndrome. If it’s another evil chick…”

Darting behind a tree and past a sleeping Kubo, who was muttering something about ‘the powerhouse of the cell’, they turned the corner towards the koi pond. The closer they got, however, the less the wail sounded like an animal’s, instead, it sounded like…

His friends gasped, and Eizan froze, feeling like all air had been drained from his lungs. 

“Naginata?”

However, what awaited them was not Eizan’s former, fearsome enemy, but someone, or something, decidedly different.

Eizan supposed it might have been a person, once upon a time. Its gelatinous, quivering form was vaguely star-shaped, with only a mop of black hair to set its head apart from the other appendages. Beady eyes were blinking, uncomprehending, at the water in front of it, a slimy...substance, dripping from its face as it did so. Upon closer inspection, everything was dripping, from its torso to what passed off as its arms. The creature seemed to have been stuffed, rather than dressed, in a red and black ninja uniform.

That _couldn’t_ be Naginata.

It appeared to notice the trio, turning around, a pained expression on its human-ish face.

“E…” it tried to speak, the dripping maw moving slowly as the being tried to enunciate the words, “E...iz...an.”

“I-Is h-he…” Jimmy stuttered as what looked like the melted thing’s painful attempts to speak went on.

_“H..H..elp.”_

Realizing that the creature in front of them _was_ none other than _Naginata,_ Eizan felt the soda and fry flavored bile in his stomach rise and threaten to come out. There were _so_ many ways to respond to this, so many questions to ask, but all the boy could think of was, _“What happened to you?!”_

However, as the boy struggled to form words, panting and whining with each syllable that came out, Eizan turned towards his friends.

“Let’s…” His mind drew a blank. What do you even do when your former enemy is lying on the ground, gelatinous and dripping? When they should be dead? Do you call a doctor? Is a doctor even qualified?

“What do we do?!” Okuni asked, shaking.

“I don’t know!” Jimmy snapped, “Do I look like a taxiderminist to you?

“It’s taxidermist, and don’t look at me! I don’t know anything about necromancy!” Okuni turned towards Eizan, “What about you? What do you think we should do?”

“Well, we can’t just leave him out here, we have to help them!” they responded, watching their enemy-turned-dead-turned-goopthing struggle to exist, let alone speak or do anything remotely human-like. “Poor guy.”

“Are you crazy?! It’ll try to kill us!”

“It’s a _he_ , not an _it,_ Jimmy. And just look at him! Do you think he’s in any state to kill us?!”

“Well, no, but-” Jimmy looked back at the hapless goop-kid, who was panting and whining in pain, barely holding it together, physically and literally, “Alright, _Mr. Rogers, who_ should we even turn to? We can’t just hold a Katana student in our dorm! Remember how _well_ that went with Vlad? Kubo was _this_ close to killing him!”

“We’re not _hosting_ a Katana student,” Eizan responded, “but we can’t just leave him out here, it’s just not right. Do you guys have any suggestions on who we should turn to?”

“Not Kubo, _that’s_ for sure,” Jimmy muttered, “he’ll faint on the spot! He’s not good with gross stuff, but neither are you, Eizan. You look like you’re about to hurl any second!”

“Because I am! Don’t tell me _you_ don’t feel the tiniest bit sick about this!”

“Maybe I do, but-”

Naginata let out a sharp hiss, catching their attention. It died down into a faint groan as the melting arms holding up his body slipped and he collapsed on the slimy puddle that used to be his legs. He weakly lifted his head, the melted flesh contorting into what looked like a scowl, though he made no movement to pull himself back up.

“See? He needs help now!” Eizan stated.

"If you two are done bickering, I have a suggestion. One of us should go get the principal and explain the situation to him. He’s the best person to turn to right now.”

Jimmy cast another look at the melted boy puddle. “Are you sure that’s the best idea? I mean, who says the Principal wouldn’t just freak out? This is a Katana student we’re talking about here.”

“Just because they’re a Katana student doesn’t mean we should deny them basic human rights. But why? Who do _you_ want to turn to in this situation? The police? _Area 51?_ Our teachers? Kubo would just flip out, Vlad and Kita would try to hurt Naginata, and Zumichito? Eh, maybe? But then again, while he might know if this has ...happened before, it’s unlikely he would know if there’s a way to fix this. If there even IS a way, might I add.”

Naginata grumbled in response.

“So, we’re left with the principal and the cleaning lady,” Okuni continued, “ And the cleaning lady would probably worry more about the...uh, slimy side of things.”

“Fine, go get the principal then,” Jimmy groaned, rubbing his temple, “Yeah, _you._ _I am not going to be the one to try to explain the situation to him.”_

“I wasn’t planning on letting you explain it,” she smirked, “ _That_ is a disaster waiting to happen. Hey, Eizan, you’ll be okay waiting here with Jimmy, right? I’d ask if you wanted to come, but leaving Jimmy unsupervised might not be the wisest choice. Unless you want to be the one to go fetch the principal.”

“I’ll be fine,” they said before looking at Naginata, “I’d rather stay here, anyway, to keep an eye on _them.”_

“Do you mean Jimmy or Naginata?”

“Both.”

“Wise choice.” she nodded, “I’ll be back!”

“Oh my word!” the principal gawked, taking in the sight of Naginata’s melted form, “I thought you three were just joking, but it looks like I’ve been proven wrong. How on earth did this even happen?”

“I don’t know, Principal-sensei! We were just coming back from the mall and we heard a noise, so we went to go check it out and this is what we’ve found!”

“Oh, it’s good to see you’re getting out again, Eizan,” the older man commented, “All of us have been getting worried about you.”

Eizan blushed and a pang of guilt hit his stomach. Had it really been so obvious? 

“K….” the discombobulated blob tried to speak, “Ka…”

The principal shushed him. “Don’t speak, you need to save your energy. We don’t know who...wait, Katana? Was it…him who did _this_ to you?”

Naginata nodded as best as he could.

“That _monster,”_ the man growled, “How _dare_ he? To a student, to a child! One who was dead! Oh, you poor, poor thing. Words can not describe my sorrow. The circle of life and death is _not_ one to be tampered with!”

“What do we do, Principal-sensei?” Okuni questioned.

“Honestly? I have no idea. This spell, if it is a spell, is one I am unfamiliar with, one that must have been cast by someone very well-versed in the dark arts. But,” his fists balled, “I can assure you that this will not be tolerated. I’ll make sure that _fiend_ pays for his crimes. Justice has been way overdue.”

The three stared at their principal in concern.

“What… What’ll you do? You won’t get hurt yourself, will you?” Eizan asked, a tone of uncertainty in his voice. “We need you!”

  
  


“Oh, Eizan, you can rest assured that I will be fine. I didn’t become principal of this school by letting some big, I can’t even think of an appropriate insult, warlord and his buddies walk all over me!”

“I see, what about Naginata? We can’t leave him here!”

“And we can’t take him back to Katana now, can we?” the principal mused, “Eizan, Jimmy; take him with you and keep him in your dorm for the time being. I’ll see what I can do about letting the _others_ know.”

“You mean our teachers?”

The principal nodded. “They tend to get a bit… finicky about sudden guests, especially ones they feel may pose a threat to our school. But I doubt Naginata here is any shape to be much of a threat to our school or to anyone. Still, it’s best that I alone approach the subject.”

Naginata grunted and tried to pull himself back up with little success.

“I understand, Principal-sensei,” Eizan said, watching Naginata’s chest heave up and down as they panted. It was a sicking sight to behold and the boy felt another twinge of regret and guilt watching their ‘sworn enemy’ suffer in agony and not being able to do anything about it. “Come on, Naginata, let’s get you inside.”

The melted kid let out a pitiful grunt and then went limp, snoring as quiet as an oozing puddle of flesh and skin could. Okuni helped Eizan lift them up, which earned a small groan from Naginata, though they didn’t stir from their restful slumber.

Their form felt slimy and cold to the touch, sending shivers down both of their spines. Whatever it was, it did _not_ feel like skin. The sensation was indescribable, though the two didn’t complain and just carried the sleeping boy inside as gently as they could, Jimmy trailing behind, strangely silent for someone so talkative and loud.

Hidden in the trees, a small shirtless figure studied the scene from afar. The two bands of red face paint on his cheeks almost glowed in the light of the overhanging late-afternoon sun as they narrowed their eyes and took out a pen and notepad, writing something down.

_“I’ll save you, Nagi. I’ll make sure they pay.”_


	3. Ed-ception

Kubo fidgeted in his chair, watching his coworkers argue with one another over something so mind-boggling absurd that it couldn’t be true. It felt as if the reality show called ‘Kubo’s Life’ realized that its ratings were plummeting, so they decided to jump the shark to win over their viewers.

Either that or his entire life was simply a story written by some bored and sadistic authors who got kicks out of toying with their subjects.

His day didn’t start so chaotic. He woke up, got dressed, had his morning tea, took his afternoon nap in the garden, typical Saturday routine.

But Vlad just  _ had _ to wake him up from his restful snooze and tell him that there was some kind of ‘emergency staff-meeting’ going on and they needed to be there.

That in itself wouldn’t be a problem. Sure, Kubo didn’t enjoy being rudely awoken from his slumber, but if there  _ was _ an actual emergency, then it would be foolish and unwise of him to not attend.

Besides, the sun was beginning to set, causing the sky to turn a captivating shade of orangish-red, so if Vlad hadn’t woken him, he would’ve woken up soon anyway. Unfortunately, the actual ‘emergency’ was something  _ so _ perplexing and paradoxical that it hurt his head to even try to comprehend.

“So, you’re telling me that the Katana student, Naginata, who died last month from getting hit by a bus,  _ isn’t actually dead _ ,  _ is now some sort of mutated abomination, and we’re letting him stay at our school?” _

Thanks, Kita. Thank you for asking the questions that everyone else couldn’t bring themselves to ask due to the sheer absurdity of the situation.

“Yes?” the principal nervously mumbled, “I-I have my reasons!”

“I’m not  _ saying _ you don’t have your reasons,” Kita continued, “but don’t you think you’re being a bit irrational with this decision? Nevermind that he’s from Katana, what are  _ we _ supposed to do about this? What makes you think  _ we’re _ qualified? We’re teachers, not… mucky-kid holding people!

“It’s not forever, Kita-san. Just until I manage to find a way to fix the poor kid. And trust me when I say I  _ will.  _ Shuriken  _ or _ Katana, no child deserves to have such  _ horrible _ altercations happen to them. What about you, Kubo-san?”

“M-Me?” 

Great, now he had to act like he understood a single word of what was going on. He knew Naginata was dead and that Eizan was unfortunate enough to not only get hit by the bus as well but they  _ witnessed  _ the whole gruesome affair.

But the kid  _ wasn’t _ dead? Mutations and altercations? It didn’t make a lick of sense to the teacher.

“I… uh… think it’s messed up?” he said, taking a sip of tea, “I mean, it’s messed up, obviously, but isn’t anyone else baffled by this? A kid coming back from the dead, regardless of their physical or mental state, just the fact that they’re  _ alive, _ isn’t something you see every day.”

“Maybe not, but this,” the principal sighed, “is the work of something unnatural and unlawful against the very cycle of nature itself! I know that the principal at Katana is a no-good, heartless monster, but I  _ thought he had standards.  _ Well, I thought wrong. What kind of devil incarnate could ever  _ think _ of hurting a child like this?”

“Well, considering he sent spies among the children just last year…” Kubo stirred his tea, remembering the ‘Ed incident’ quite well.

Kita furrowed her brows in confusion. The Principal also stopped his impassioned monologue to look at Kubo, one eyebrow raised behind his glasses.

Vlad, on the other hand, gulped, realizing who they were referring to. Well, now was a good as time as ever to spill the beans on the truth of the ‘spying incident’.

“To tell you the truth, they  _ weren’t _ a spy. They were… me? Okay, I admit it, I was the foreign exchange student all along, but I also had my reasons for such rash actions like everyone else here-

_ “What.” _

“Listen, I admit that my methods for passing my Evasion exam weren’t the most orthodox, but since I had no choice, I had to turn to such tactics. It worked, didn’t it?”

“Yeah? Well, you’re going to  _ wish that it didn’t.” _ Kubo snapped, jumping off from his seat and storming over to Vlad. “You made me try to get three students expelled all because you couldn’t pass some stupid TEST?! Not to mention all the time I spent chasing after you in VAIN, because you were RIGHT THERE!”

“Wait, Kubo, you’re overreacting-” Vlad couldn’t finish his sentence as Kubo jumped on their chest, seething.

“You made me look like a FOOL in front of EVERYBODY! I am NOT a tool to your wicked ways, Keitawa, I REFUSE to be a stepping stone to your SUCCESS!”

Despite all of Kubo’s rage, Vlad managed to pick him up with ease, holding them away from his face and especially, his beard.  _ “Oh boy, _ you’re like an angry chihuahua.”

“Kubo-san, this might not be the most appropriate situation for…” 

The principal was cut off by Vlad’s cry of “Argh, he SCRATCHED MY FACE!”

“Don’t hold him like that!” Kita scolded, “You’re probably hurting him!”

“He is NOT an animal, Kita! And if anything, he’s hurting ME!” He pointed at the thin white line on his cheek. 

“Stop being a wussy! What, can you not take a single scrape? Oh, look at that, Vlad the Russian Spy can’t handle a little scratch!”

“I’ll give him more than a scratch when he lets me go!” Kubo hissed out, trying to wrestle his way out of his captor’s grip.

“Do you think we should do something?” Zumichito asked.

“Not yet, Zumichito. This is still much more well-behaved than our  _ usual  _ staff meetings,” the principal said, shuddering.

Kita facepalmed. 

“I learned this technique when and Torofi and I went to train under Master Otomo! Granted, he didn’t let us in, but still!”

“Torofi? Who’s that?” She asked, cocking her head. The name  _ was _ strangely familiar to her, like she heard it before, but couldn’t remember from where or who.

“Oh, that’s my trophy-”

“So you have a trophy wife, huh?” Vlad asked, chuckling. This only enraged Kubo further, who kept trying to squirm away and give the former a new one but couldn’t escape their iron grasp, “You can keep trying, but you’ll never defeat me, Kubo. And your aspiring-ninja trophy wife should have told you that when Master Otomo ghosted you two.”

“Okay, everyone, time out!” Kita snarled, waving her hands, “Vlad, put Kubo down, Kubo, stop trying to kill Vlad, and talk this out like  _ normal functioning adults! _ We’re  _ not _ five-year-olds! I don’t  _ care _ if Vlad was Ed or Ed was Vlad or whatever and I don’t  _ care _ if Kubo has a trophy wife or not, so just drop it!”

Truth was, she  _ did _ care, about the second part, that was. She doubted Kubo had an actual wife, let alone a trophy wife, but… something about it still  _ bugged _ her.

“Okay,  _ maybe _ I overreacted a little,” Kubo admitted, sitting next to Vlad. “but-”

“A little?” Vlad asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Okay, so I overreacted! Do you understand how hard it is to gain any respect in this world when you  _ barely _ pass the standard height for dwarfism? And my own  _ friends _ betraying my trust and getting my very own students to help them doesn’t exactly make me feel respected, you know!”

“I understand, Kubo…” Vlad sighed, running a hand through his beard. “But please understand that I never would have done that under normal circumstances! I had no other choice, for my teaching license...”

The principal cocked his head.

“Which I definitely have now, and  _ definitely _ had when I was hired, was at stake! There was no other way!”

“... _ And I’m very sorry _ .” Kita whispered.

“And oh, of course! I’m very sorry I betrayed your trust, Kubo.”

The shorter man looked down, and then back at Vlad, scanning his face for any trace of dishonesty.

“Apology accepted.” 

He held out his hand for the other to shake and winced in pain when they squeezed his hand instead.

“But that doesn’t explain who Torofi is,” Vlad said, smirking slightly, “there’s no shame in admitting you have a trophy wife, especially if they’re  _ really, really hot.” _

“Torofi is NOT a trophy wife!” Kubo shouted, turning red, “Torofi is a TROPHY! A literal trophy that I won at a tournament when I was eight! I was  _ trying _ to say that but you guys just had to butt in with this ‘Oh, look at Kubo’s trophy wife!’.”

Now it was Vlad and Kita’s turn to blush, embarrassed by the rashness of their comments, Kita mentally facepalming. Torofi was a trophy all along, of  _ course. _ Why did she even  _ think _ that Kubo would marry someone just for their looks?

Torofi  _ was _ an unusual name and a little unoriginal, but she knew from experience that Kubo wasn’t very good with names. He probably got that trait from his parents, Kuba and Niko.

“Oh.” Vlad muttered, nodding, “I see.”

“Now that Vlad and Kubo-san have ...settled their differences, I think we can move on to the reason for this meeting, yes? Does anyone here remember the, oh, I don’t know, melted Katana student on school premises?” the others looked down and a small smile appeared on the principal’s face, “I thought so.”

“What  _ are _ we expected to do? Do we call his parents?” Kubo asked, remembering the paradoxical elephant in the room that threatened to fry his brain with the sheer insanity of the situation. It felt like Schrodinger’s Cat, but instead of it being a mere thought experiment that was based on the idea of superposition, this was an actual human being that  _ could _ be argued to be both alive  _ and _ dead at the  _ same time, _ regardless of whether they were being observed or not.

The principal shook his head in response. “Not yet, I’m afraid. I don’t want to overwhelm them or make them feel any worse about their son’s… fate, considering that they think he’s dead. They could panic and tell the entire world and if this were to get out to the public, it wouldn’t end well, not for us, but for Naginata. Who knows what inhumane tests they’d perform on him? He’s already been tortured enough. It’s wiser to just wait and see. I promised Naginata I’d help him and I intend on keeping that promise.”

“How will you do that?” Kita asked.

“I don’t know, that’s the million-dollar question, but I do know this. The principal of Katana’s reign of terror has gone on for long enough, it’s time for someone to put an end to it  _ once and for all.” _

“You’re not planning on fighting him alone,  _ are you?” _

Silence took over the room as Kubo’s question lingered in the air.

“Don’t worry about me, Kubo-san, I’ll be fine,” the principal chucked, “You’re not the first person to be concerned about that. Now that I think about it, Eizan and you  _ are _ pretty alike.”

“We are?”

“Yes- Oh! I’m getting off-track now. I wanted to say that your concerns about my well-being are very much appreciated, but unnecessary. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I won’t let some evil principal walk all over me!”

“I’m not asking any of you to join me, though, I can’t bear the thought of seeing one of you get hurt!” they continued, “So I ask that you don’t join me in my plan, whatever it is.”

The group nodded.

“Good, I believe we’re all set then, goodnight everybody!”

The group dissolved as the staff members made their way to the door, exhausted from the whole ordeal.

However, before Vlad could leave, the principal whispered something to him.

“You know, Vlad, not having a teaching license is nothing to be ashamed about.”

_ “WHAT?” _

“Goodnight!”


	4. Once Upon A Dream

Eizan tossed and turned on his bed, trying to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in, but every time he started to drift off the mental images from the day’s gruesome events would swarm into his head and jerk him awake once more.

On a small cushion by the side of his bed, Naginata snored, though it sounded more like an anguished wheeze than anything else. He instinctively nestled into the blanket the two had given him hours before, letting out a content sigh before falling into an even deeper sleep, the occasional twitch or subconscious groan being any indication that he was even alive, given his current state of being.

All in all, it had been a restless night for him too, it seemed.

Eizan ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Sleep wasn't coming any time soon, he could tell, and neither was daylight, but the horrifying memories of death and melted puddle-kids weren’t helping him relax either. Despite all of his effort to push the thoughts out of his head, there they were, dancing in his mind, mocking him for his inability to do anything.

He knew he wasn’t the one responsible for Naginata being the way he was now, who was curled up under the blanket and shivering, goop dripping off the side of their face and onto the pillow as they let out a small whine.

While it wasn’t Eizan who took his corpse and said ‘Let me go against the cycle of life and death.’ and it certainly wasn’t _his_ idea to turn Naginata into a literal abomination, _it still felt like his fault._

If that bus never hit them, if he actually did _something_ to save Naginata instead of gawking like a deer in the headlights, they _both_ would’ve been fine. Would’ve, _should’ve._

But focusing on what should’ve been wouldn’t help Naginata, would it? Like it or not, they _needed_ Eizan’s help and being stuck in the past wouldn’t do anything for anyone.

Eizan’s eyes darted towards Jimmy’s sleeping form. _They_ could sleep like a baby during all of this, _of course._ He couldn’t help but feel jealous of them, that they didn’t _have_ to have the immense guilt of such tragedy weighing them down. That they wouldn’t have to wake up in the morning and either face the fact that they’d contributed to another person becoming a literal shell of their former self or that they themselves _killed_ that person, to begin with.

Tossing his blanket aside, the boy decided that maybe some fresh air would do him good. Granted, he was told this the day before, and _that_ didn’t go over so great, but _before_ the horrible thing that ruined his Saturday and possibly, his whole year, happened, he was actually enjoying himself, somewhat. So maybe he could find some peace of mind if he got out of this makeshift three-person dormitory. 

As quiet as a mouse, he tiptoed to the window and jumped out, climbing on top of the roof. He realized this was likely the best decision he could make at the moment as soon as the first breeze hit him. The moonlight hit the trees and the entirety of the city looked asleep, as though under a sp...as though it was enchanted.

It was soothing, reminding him of what _he_ expected being a ninja to be like. Jumping around during the middle of the night while fighting bad guys and protecting secret artifacts. None of the suffering or pain, just being a hero.

But _was_ he a hero? Was he ever?

He cleared his ancestor’s name and secured his place as a ninja, but in the end, maybe it would be better if he didn’t. Was his ancestor’s good name and a place at Shuriken worth another person’s lifetime of suffering? 

No, obviously not. 

And yet, here it was, such a nightmare unfolding right before his eyes, with him powerless to stop it. Whatever was in their realm of possibilities wasn’t enough anymore, and the feeling sat like a stone in his belly. 

“Nice weather, isn’t it?”

He jumped before relaxing his posture when he realized who it was. “Oh, hey, Jimmy.”

The other ninja waved at him from the windowsill, then climbed up to the roof in one swift move. “So, doing some stargazing, I take it?”

Eizan looked down as his friend moved to sit on the tile next to his. “Kind of...I guess I just needed a bit of fresh air.” 

“Man, can I relate. You’re not the only one who can’t sleep.”

“But I saw you-”

“Sleeping? Well, let me change my wording. Some people can’t _stay_ asleep.” Jimmy commented.

_“Oh.”_

The tranquil silence returned, but it was much more relaxing than before. For some reason, Eizan always felt comforted by his friend’s presence. Jimmy always knew what to say to cheer them up, no matter the situation. And they _really_ need that right now and not just for the whole ‘Naginata incident’. There was also something else on Eizan’s mind that had been bugging him for quite some time now.

“Hey, Jimmy?” they asked, turning towards their friend, “Do you ever have dreams? Okay, that was a stupid question, of course, you have dreams, but do you have _weird_ dreams? Ones where you’re someone else and you’re somewhere you’ve never been before?

“Sure, man. I imagine everyone’s got those.”

“Even you?”

“I’ve had my share of bizarro dreams, ones that I can’t really explain, but I’ve never really thought about what they _meant,”_ Jimmy said, scratching the back of his head, “Do they _really_ mean anything at all? Kubo said that dreams are a representation of our subcon-something and our fears and anxieties, but that sounds bogus.”   
  


“I think dreams are cool, even if they don’t mean anything,” Eizan added, “I keep dreaming that I’m in Ancient China, being a ninja master, just like my ancestor!”

“Man, I wish _my_ dreams were as cool as yours, Katana always plagues _mine._ I’ll be doing whatever, minding my business and whatnot, then that jerkwad of a principal shows up, starts mocking me, and then, well, I don’t really know. Those kinds of dreams always end after that.”

“Huh. Maybe it’s a representation of your brief time at Katana? I don’t know much about dreams, I’m not a dream analyzer or whatever they’re called, but maybe it’s an inner reflection of your need for acceptance, and even though you have that now, the lingering fear of being rejected by your peers still exists inside of you? It would explain the mocking part, at least.”

“Now you’re trying to make me look all soft and stuff!” Jimmy pouted, crossing his arms over his chest, “I don’t know, _maybe._ But I’m _not_ an attention-seeker. If you want to go analyze an attention-seeker’s dreams, go analyze Ami’s.”

“I wasn’t saying that,” Eizan said, “I’m saying that you subconsciously desire acceptance from those you’re close to. It’s not a bad thing, I think everyone feels like that sometimes. Heh, what _do_ you think Ami dreams about?”

“She probably has nightmares about being turned into a warthog or something.”

The two shared a chuckle. Ami dreaming that she was a warthog? Now that was random. 

“Or just painting everything pink,” Jimmy said. “Remember when we were all sleepwalking?”

Eizan chuckled, shaking his head, “How could I forget? You kept calling me Master Splinter for weeks!”

“And I would have continued, but when neither of you even know who the Ninja Turtles are, then that’s no fun. Honestly, it’s even set in my hometown, it’s insulting on a cultural level that you haven’t seen it yet.”

“ _Sure_.” Eizan looked away, another thought occurring to him. 

“Quick question.”

“What is it?”

“Do you ever...think about New York?” 

Jimmy wasn’t expecting _that_ question. Granted, he thought about it every now and then, but he’d never stopped to really _think_ about it, not when every day brought on a new adventure, a new problem to solve, a new...something. And New York never fit in that something.

Sure, Mom and Dad were there, but, besides them, everything about his life back then felt so far away, so irrelevant to his life now. 

"I... Um..." he looked down at his feet, “Yeah, I-I guess. Sometimes. Why do you ask?”

“I dunno,” Eizan answered, “I just feel that if I was in a different country, I’d feel homesick, you know?”

“I know…” Jimmy glanced down at the garden beneath them. The water of the pond glimmered in the moonlight, the dark shadows of koi carps swimming lazily back and forth. “I...I guess at times I feel a little homesick. I’ll be looking at random things here, and thinking ‘Oh, this would be different in the US’, and you know, when I make references and you guys don’t get them immediately, or the opposite. But I guess this is normal, huh? Like, remember when Okuni freaked the absolute heck out on the subway? Or when you didn’t know what chum was until she showed you?”

Eizan shivered: “Don’t remind me.”

Still, it was less disgusting than riceballs.

“And ...uh, at times it doesn’t even matter that I’m not in New York. I mean, my life here is pretty great. Skate rinks here are okay, the food is good and even Kubo, once you’ve got a good pillow on hand, isn’t so bad. And...I’ve got friends like you guys.”

“Awww, Jimmy.” 

“Even though you wake up at random times to go brood on our school roof.” The boy smirked, but when Eizan’s face fell, he quickly regretted his words.

“I really did need fresh air.” his friend moped, looking down at his hands, which were gripping the tiles a bit too tight for Jimmy’s liking, “I couldn’t stay there. It was too…”

“Me too, dude. Did you hear Naginata snore? The guy is a freaking freight train. He’s worse than you and Pig combined.”

The wind blew through the trees and an owl could be heard in the distance.

“Do you think the Principal will ever bring him back to normal?”

“Why are you asking me? I don’t know. But what I _do_ know is that you need to stop moping around and being so self… what’s the word?” Jimmy mumbled to himself, trying to think, “I’ve heard it before…”

“Self-deprecating?” Eizan asked.

“Yeah, that. You need to stop being so… that word. I’m not good at pronouncing those kinds of words, okay? But I’m just saying, _none_ of this is your fault, Eizan! And don’t say ‘Oh, it is! I’m such a failure because horrible things have happened one after the other’ and go on a ridiculous tirade about self-hate and loathing!”

“You know what tirade means?”

Jimmy groaned. _“THAT_ was the only thing you picked up from what I just said?”

“No, no!” Eizan shook his head, “I mean, I heard what you said, but I don’t know, I really don’t. I get what everyone’s been saying, that I didn’t do anything and that we were both at the wrong place and at the wrong time, but I can’t help but feel like I still played a _part_ in it, somehow. Why did _I_ have to be the one to live? Why do _I_ have to be the one to see Naginata suffer? It doesn’t make any sense and I feel like such a horrible person, it’s stupid, I know. You’re lucky, you don’t _have to_ be stressed out by any of this.”

“I _AM_ stressed out, Eizan!”

“You are?”

“Yes! I’m stressed because _you’re_ stressed! Do you know what it’s like to have your best friend hating himself for something that _wasn’t_ even his fault and just a coincidence due to being dealt a bad hand by fate and no matter what you or your other best friend tell him, he still can’t get it through his _thick skull?!_ Not to mention, I have to deal with Nagi-” Jimmy stopped, realizing what he said, “I have to deal with… _current situations._ If that doesn’t make me feel stressed out, I don’t know what would!”

Eizan never knew they felt like that. Great, now the kid was causing more problems and making everyone, even his own friends, stressed out for his wellbeing. Yet, Jimmy’s words started to make sense to him, as if his alleged thick skull was finally beginning to crack, letting the words sink in, instead of being thrown to the side and forgotten about.

But it wasn’t like he hadn’t reflected on the sympathy everyone gave him. It was more that he tossed such words aside, beliving their pity and the classic ‘it wasn’t your fault’ to be nothing other than playing the ‘I’m not a jerk’ card and that nobody dared to tell him the truth and that it was, at the very least, partially his fault.

That’s what he believed, anyway.

But hearing Jimmy shout at him that it wasn’t his fault and it was some unfair coincidences for both parties involved… it made him reconsider his mental choices.

The way their voice cracked, sounding close to angry tears, made him realize that they meant _every syllable of what they said._ Jimmy didn’t blame Eizan for anything, _he never did._ And neither did Okuni.

Before he could even comprehend what was going on, the boy found himself tightly hugging Jimmy, eyes watering. “Thank you. I _really_ needed to hear that.”

“You’re welcome. Someone _really_ needed to tell you that,” they gave a small smirk, though Eizan could see their eyes watering up as well, “though I understand what you’re going through. Survivor’s guilt isn’t pretty.”

“Survivor’s guilt? Is that what I have?”

“You literally have a textbook case! Questioning if an accident is your fault, check, wondering why _you_ of all people survived an event while others did not, double-check, feeling immense guilt for something entirely out of your control, check, check, and check.”

“Wow, how do you know about all that?”

“Come on, Eizan, you know my parents,” Jimmy began, “They’re those _‘Cartoons and comics will rot your brain and turn you into a degenerate’_ types that think watching a single episode of a Saturday-Morning cartoon will turn you into a hobo. Needless to say, due to my ever-present boredom in a place filled with uninteresting books, I’ve learned a lot about psychology, especially on marriage. I’d be the best person to go to if you ever needed a matchmaker in a jiffy.”

Eizan nodded, looking down at the streets below them. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

For a minute, it was quiet. Just the two of them, the peaceful atmosphere, and the stars.

“Hey, Eizan, can I say something?” Now it was Jimmy’s turn to ask a question.

“You just did.”

_“Very funny, Kaburagi._ I was gonna say something about… about… Naginata. Now, before you get all hissy at me and what not for bringing up a sore topic, let me finish. I’m not _that_ religious of a person, but I feel like, no, I _know_ that there’s a reason behind all this, that despite what you think, all of this will lead to something greater.”

“Like what?” Eizan asked.

“Like...I don’t know. But this is big. Bigger than all the other things we’ve seen the Katana Principal do until now. I mean, I’ve heard things, but some of them must have been exaggerated, at least I hope so. Maybe this is the straw that broke the camel’s back, maybe this time is the time he finally pays for everything he’s done.”

Eizan sighed, hands under his chin. He desperately wanted to believe Jimmy was right, that the Katana Principal would one day have his just desserts, but his heart didn’t feel lighter. What could a bunch of school kids even do? And yes, the principal of Shuriken was powerful, but it was just him against someone who could turn people into mush without so much as batting an eye. And the idea of someone else getting hurt made his stomach churn.

“I hope you’re right.”

_“I hope so too.”_

The words hung in the air, though Jimmy was quick to disperse the silence by getting up and slowly walking down the tiles. “Well, I’m going to bed. What about you? You gonna stay up here and brood some more?”

“Nah, I… I think I’ll call it a night too.”


	5. Watch What You Say, They'll Be Calling You Paranoid

Jimmy’s words worked their soporific magic on Eizan’s thoughts, and the boy found himself drifting off to sleep as soon as he hit the pillow. Unlike the previous night, his sleep was an utterly dreamless one. On the off-chance that he did dream and his body and its functions didn’t temporarily shut down due to stress and overall lack of self-care, it was nothing but a dark void with no images or sounds to process. He drifted aimlessly in the emptiness, observing and taking in the absolute nothingness that was offered.

To tell the truth, he would choose these kinds of dreams or lack _of_ dreams over having another horrific nightmare any day.

Unfortunately, such serenity would soon be interrupted by a less blissful awakening.

_“Sp..Sp...a…”_

Oh, right. Naginata. Eyes fluttering open, he attempted to decipher the sounds coming from next to his bed. Halfway between whines and pained groans, the laments varied in volume, but all repeated the same three letters. Was...Naginata talking in his sleep? Or talking to them?

“ _Spa...spa...r…_ ”

Casting his blanket aside, the boy sat up, frowning as his eyes met Jimmy’s. His roommate was also sitting on his bed, his demeanor unusually quiet.

“ _Spark...k…_ ”

‘ _Been like this for a while_ ’ Jimmy mouthed, pointing his chin at the quivering blob that used to be their archenemy. 

“ _Spark...l..es_.”

Eizan’s frown deepened. _Sparkles_ ? What did that even mean? Why was Naginata talking about _sparkles_? It didn’t seem like a very...Naginata thing to talk about. Ami liked sparkles a lot and it showed. It could even fit Kubo’s costume when he had his King of the Disco Dojo persona. But Eizan couldn’t see Naginata owning glitter pens or a glittery disco costume. Also, why would the kid even be talking about sparkly things in his condition?

“Oh!” Jimmy said, “I know who he’s talking about!”

“Who?”

“ _Who indeed,_ unless this person isn’t a who or a person at all!”

The kid snickered to himself, leaving Eizan to wonder _what_ exactly it was that their friend was talking about.

“It’s Mr. Sparkles, his stuffed animal!”

“Mr. Sparkles? _Stuffed animal?”_

“Yeah!” Jimmy continued, “Back during my, thankfully, _very brief_ stay at Katana, Naginata had a stuffed unicorn he called ‘Mr. Sparkles’. He obnoxiously claimed that it _wasn’t_ his and that it was merely ‘given to him’ by his younger sister, who _totally_ doesn’t exist, by the way. Nobody believed him, of course, but it wasn’t like anybody _wanted_ to get their butts kicked by him and his posse, so nothing was ever said about it.”

Naginata let out an annoyed groan.

“Thanks for the feedback, but I’m not finished. I don’t even think owning a stuffed animal is that much of a crime against manliness, everyone has a comfort item. Kubo has his trophy, Nobunaga has his food, and Naginata has a stuffed animal. It’s not that big of a deal! Which is why I never brought it up to anybody until now, like yeah, you can mock him for it, but what does that make you? No better than any of them.”

Eizan frowned. “I wasn’t going to mock him for it. Wait, do you think he misses it? And that’s why he’s …”

“ _Spa...Sparkles_.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Where is it?” Eizan asked, but, judging from the way Jimmy’s face fell, the answer was obvious. He gulped.

“Do you...do you think we should go there?”

“To tell you the truth, probably not. I know we’ve had our little escapades in the past, but now, considering _this,_ I… I don’t think I want to risk it.”

“I understand, but…” Eizan’s eyes went to Naginata, who had fallen asleep and was snoring once again, albeit softer. It seemed their talking spiel tuckered the poor thing out.

“You know, I used to have a stuffed animal,” Jimmy said, “A giant dog, bigger than anything you could imagine. It’s somewhere in my room in the States now, but when I was younger, I always had it with me everywhere I went. I even brought it with me when I had to go to the toilet. I liked it _that_ much.”

“That’s… endearing,” Eizan mumbled, unsure of what to think, “But what about Naginata? What should we do?”

“There’s not much we _can_ do right now, unfortunately. I mean, sure, we can buy a new Mr. Sparkles, but, I don’t know, that doesn’t seem right to me.”

Eizan shook his head. It didn’t seem right to him either, but...what could they do? He turned towards the window. Beyond the school gates, just after the forest, Katana School peeked from behind the pine trees, its red lacquered roof gleaming ominously under the merciless sun. 

It was a place of unspeakable horrors, everyone knew that by now. But how did the principal manage to get away with committing horrific crimes day after day? Who knows how many people were hurt by this monster under the guise of a mere man? The implication that Naginata wasn’t a special case and that this had been done before on some innocent person was too much for Eizan to handle.

He quietly closed the blinds, not wanting to think about the matter any further. Unbeknownst to him, a figure watched from the tree branches, making sure to stay out of sight.

“Don’t worry, buddy. I got you covered.”

The arrival of the weekend had made it clear that the previous bad weather was but a forgotten memory, as Tokirohama prepared for yet another mild, sunny day. The gentle morning light filtered through the windows, warming children, adults, and gooey beings alike. Well, everywhere but in Jacques Morimura’s and Marcos Gonzales’ room. 

“Can’t we at least turn on the nightlight?” Jacques’ voice resounded in the darkness. 

“No!” Marcos hissed. “This is a secret reunion. And secret reunions have to be done when it’s dark. _Duh_.”

“But…how are we going to read Pig’s talking point list, if it’s so dark?” 

A sad trumpet sound was heard from a corner of the room. Marcos wasn’t quite sure what it meant, but at least he knew Pig was here.

“Also, can’t we just start already?” Daisuke yawned, “This is putting a dent in my beauty sleep.”

Deciding to hold back from making comments on Daisuke’s beauty sleep, Marcos checked his watch. Two minutes to eight. Soon, the city would start to stir, and so would any possible intruders. Katana, the evil ninjas they’d fought against that summer, random evildoers...who knew, maybe this time the Three Saints had finally caught up with him, and they were out there right now, listening in, waiting for the moment to strike. The possibilities were endless. A shiver ran through Marcos’s spine as he remembered his three persecutors. Just thinking about their names and their faces (well, the parts that were left uncovered by their masks, of course) and their cold, evil laugh as they had dumped that bag in the water at the pier made his hair stand up and his legs start to tremble. The Three Saints were so evil and so single-minded, not even Saturday morning cartoons could distract him. They had to be quick and get to the point as soon as possible. 

“Look, this is important, no, guys?” there was a chorus of agreement from around him, and he continued, “Strange things are happening, and the only way to get to the bo…”

He was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open, a sweaty Nobunaga almost barreling through it and blinding the children in the process.

“Nobunaga!” Ami shielded her eyes with an arm, “Close the door!”

The boy blushed and did as requested.

“Oh, it’s dark in here. I’ll turn on the light.”

As the overhead lights buzzed on, Marcos pinched the bridge of his nose. So much for secrecy. 

“Sorry that I’m late! I brought snacks.” the miniature sumo wrestler waved, dumping a family-sized bag of chips, a basket of rice balls, and two to-go pork buns on the carpeted floor and sat down next to Jacques, “And you guys can have some too if you want!”

“We’re only missing…” Marcos paused, as Choki floated into the room, still in his pajamas and snoring softly, “ _Bueno_ , I think everyone’s here.”

_“Why_ exactly are we here?” Ami asked, “And not to mention, we’re missing Jimmy and Okuni. Don’t ask ‘What about Eizan?’ because who _knows_ what Kaburagi’s been up to lately.”

“That’s just it,” Marcos whispered, “there’s something strange going on with the three of them, I just _know_ it.”

“It’s not anything strange, really,” Daisuke said, a cocky smirk on his face, “everyone knows that Eizan’s been in a funk ever since ‘you-know-what’ happened. It wouldn’t surprise me if he managed to pull Jimmy and Okuni into his mood swings too.”

“Daisuke!” the girl smacked his shoulder, “Stop being so insensitive!”

“I’m not!” the boy protested, “Seriously, have any of you even _seen_ Eizan since...it...happened?”

“Well, no, but…” 

Ami’s words died in her throat as everyone began to remember that fateful day. Granted, they weren’t there to witness the accident, but it was still distressing to hear that not only did three of your classmates witness a bus hit and kill somebody, but one of them _also_ got hurt and ended up in the hospital. It didn’t take a thorough examination of the science behind Kubo’s melodramatic teachings to figure out why their friend became a hermit.

But now, Jimmy and Okuni decided to follow in his footsteps and become hermits as well? Marcos was right, something was very fishy about all of this, and it wasn’t Jacques.

“If you’re that concerned about our classmates, how come you didn’t go to, I don’t know, our teachers, instead of making us all wake up at the buttcrack of dawn for an _obvious_ truth?”

“Because Daisuke,” Marcos began, eyeing the boy, _“They can’t be trusted either.”_

“What do you mean?” Nobunaga asked between mouthfuls of food, “We can always go to the teachers for help! Like that time I got stuck in the floorboards! I’m not sure _how_ that happened, but if it wasn’t for Vlad-sensei, I would’ve never gotten out!”

“This isn’t _about_ Vlad-sensei or our pathetic, moldy floorboards! This is about something that could change _everything_ we know about our school, our lives, and our understanding of the universe itself!”

“And I’m the Queen of England,” Daisuke said, snickering, “Come on, Marcos, have you ever heard the word ‘paranoia’ or ‘neurotic’ before? Because you definitely fit that description to a T.”

“That’s what you think, Tipo,” they replied, “but my so-called paranoia keeps me alive and out of the path of anyone who would want to… harm me.”

“So you’re saying that this category includes Kubo. Right. Because that man is _such_ a keeper of secrets and mysteries.”

“Yes, Ami, it does! You never know what’s under that orange sweater of his.”

“I _hope_ it’s something more fashionable! Have you _seen_ that piece of junk? _Yuck._ That… _thing_ is _beyond_ last season, so much that we’ve done a complete full circle and caused it to be back _in_ season, if that’s even possible.”

“I like it.”

Ami scoffed. “You like everything, Nobunaga.”

“Oh, right.” 

“Ay, dios mio! Can we _please_ get back on topic? I don’t care how _tacky_ our teacher’s sweater is, there might not be a sweater to mock if we don’t do something!”

Daisuke coughed into his elbow. _“Paranoia.”_

_“_ Will you stop?!” Marcos snapped, “This is serious! Don’t you find it at least a bit suspicious that they’ve all become so secretive lately?”

“A little,” Jacques murmured, “I can understand why Eizan would want to be left alone, maybe Okuni and Jimmy decided to go full-time on that too? To try and make him feel better and show that they understand what he’s going through?”

“Maybe, if that happened last month! Why _now_ ? Why not _then_? Because this is all a web of deception, I tell you! A ploy to pull the wool over our eyes and hide us from the much bigger picture!”

“Which is?”

“Oh, uh…” Marcos said, stammering as he tried to come up with a response to Ami’s question, “It’s something _very_ big, something that only a devious mind of the highest skill could come up with-”

Ami smirked. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Of course, I do! I just… No, I don’t.”

They deflated in shame and let out a small sigh. For a moment or two, it was strangely silent, save for the birds chirping outside and the wind blowing through the trees. The silence lasted until Nobunaga decided to speak up.

“I got it! Maybe our teachers along with Eizan and his friends were replaced by… aliens!”

Everyone turned to look at him, confused.

“What? I thought it was a good theory!”

“It’s a better theory than _mine,”_ Marcos said, letting out another sigh as he covered his eyes, “considering I don’t even _have_ a theory. Why don’t we all just agree with Nobunaga’s speculation and call it a day? Maybe I really _am_ paranoid.”

“ _Finally_.” Daisuke exhaled. 

“Daisuke!” Ami chided him again before turning towards Marcos, “There’s nothing wrong with being paranoid. Who knows, maybe there _is_ something suspicious going on in the school.”

A small blush came to his face. “You think?”

“Hey, Gonzales, stop stealing my girl!”

“I am not _your_ girl.” Ami said, glaring at Daisuke.

“Right, sorry,” they gulped, not wanting to face the girl’s wrath, “Still, is this almost over? It might not be too late for me to go back to bed and catch up on my missed beauty sleep. And if you say ‘There might not be beauty sleep to catch up on if we don’t do something!’, I swear I’ll-”

“No, no, I won’t hold you back. Maybe the best thing to do is wait? I don’t know, I’m just as confused about all of this as you all are.”

“I’m fine with waiting!” Nobunaga said, munching on a pork bun.

“I don’t think we have any other options.” Ami shrugged, “Unless we want to go with the alien idea.”

“Okay! Waiting it is!” Daisuke exclaimed, getting up from his position as fast as he could, “I’ll see you all later!”

The others followed suit soon after, leaving Jacques and Marcos alone in their shared dorm room.

The latter of the two groaned and got up, laying down on his bed. “Well, _THAT_ could have gone better.”

“But it could have also gone worse,” Jacques picked up a rice ball from the floor, “We could’ve been under the suspicion that our teachers are aliens. When has THAT ever gone well?”

“Never, amigo. Never.”

The afternoon sun hung high in the sky and a gentle warmth had spread over the school grounds, chasing away the chills of the early-morning fog. Tiny wisps of clouds scudded across the sky, blown by the gentle spring winds of the ever-changing sky, bringing along the aromatic smell of fresh grass and sweet flowers.

It was the perfect day for a walk, which was what two kids decided to do.

“It was nice of Okuni to agree to watch over Naginata for us,” Eizan said, inspecting the ground for anything interesting, such as a unique stone or a squirrel waking out of hibernation.

“Hey man, you _need_ this, more than you think,” Jimmy commented, “You deserve to be able to have one relaxing walk outside without something… weird or horrible happening.”

“You think?”

“Uh, yeah, dude! And I couldn’t let you go alone either, because that’s when bad thoughts happen! When you’re all by yourself with nothing to think about, you tend to begin to think about the negative things in your life and it’s harder to pull yourself out of that funk when you’re all alone.”

“Listen, I know I’ve been pushing Okuni and you to the side lately with all this,” Eizan replied, not meeting Jimmy’s gaze, “and I’m sorry, okay? I…”

Jimmy rolled his eyes. “It’s not about us, Eizan, it’s about you! Don’t _you_ want to feel better?”

“I guess. But there’s not much that-”

“I’m saying that you can’t do this alone, you’ll only end up hurting yourself even more. The biggest critic of your actions is yourself.”

“You didn’t come up with that.”

“So? It doesn’t make it any less true.”

Eizan paused for a second, thinking over what Jimmy had said before walking over and giving them a tight hug.

“Thanks.”

“You know I’ll always be here for you.”

“You wanna start heading back now? I… I don’t want to leave Okuni on her own for too long.” Eizan asked Jimmy.

“Sure.”

As the two made their way back to the school, a figure watched them from afar, perched upon one of the upper branches of a tree. They clutched a soft, toy-like object in their hand, studying the moving targets closely.

It would take perfect aim and a perfect throw to pull this off.

They bent their arm back, aiming. It _shouldn’t_ have been this way, but the unfairness called life had forced his hand.

They let go and watched the toy fall to the ground, hoping desperately that it would reach its targets.

“By the way, have you seen any of our classmates?” Jimmy asked Eizan, kicking a rock out of the dirt path. Seeing them shake their head, he let out a frustrated sigh, “I’m not surprised, they’re avoiding us like the plague because they probably think we’re a bunch of nutjobs that come with an entire gallon of bad luck. I mean, isn’t that suspicious? I haven’t seen a living soul besides you two… and Naginata. Something weird is going on h-”

Before Jimmy could finish his sentence, a small toy hit him in the back, making him lose his balance and fall forward onto the forest floor.

“Jimmy!”

“I’m okay,” the boy groaned, rubbing his back, “What the heck was that?!”

He turned around to catch the culprit but only caught a flash of orange and a rustle of leaves. “Man, that is _so_ not cool. When I get my hands on them-”

“What’s this?”

Eizan’s question jerked Jimmy’s attention away from his assailant and towards the object on the ground. Its white, fluffy body gleamed under the sun, the colors of its rainbow mane faded but still very much there. Its glittery horn was what stood out the most, though, as Eizan bent over to pick the toy up and handed it to Jimmy.

“Dude…”

“Yeah? What is it?” 

“I don’t think we have to worry about going to Katana anymore.”

Eizan tilted his head in confusion before realizing what his friend meant. “Is… Is that Mr. Sparkles?”

_“The one and only.”_

“Where did it come from?” 

Jimmy looked back at the tree where the attacker was only a moment before. He didn’t have enough time to see anything other than a glance of the sickeningly familiar orange-colored cloth, but he had his suspicions. Still, seeing Mr. Sparkles right there, in one piece, just _given_ to them, confused the young boy to _no_ end.

“We shouldn’t question it,” he answered back, tightly holding the doll to his chest, “We have Mr. Sparkles, let’s… get back to the school before something _else_ happens.”

Meanwhile, Okuni was having some plights herself as she watched Naginata mope around Eizan’s and Jimmy’s dorm, mumbling some attempt or a variant of ‘Sparkles’ every few minutes or so.

She _knew_ what ‘Sparkles’ meant, the boys were considerate enough to tell her before leaving her alone and confused with a despondent Naginata who seemed to only know one word like how a Pokemon only knew how to say its name, but the entire thing left her feeling empty on the inside.

It must have been awful. Imagine dying in a horrific accident, only to then find yourself somewhat ‘alive’ in a nightmare-ish form of unrelenting suffering, stuck with a bunch of people you aren’t too fond of, unable to have the _one_ thing that could ease your pain, for even the briefest of moments.

No, it was _beyond_ awful, a type of emotion and feeling that no dictionary of hers could even behind to explain or comprehend, it was the true pinnacle of human suffering, something that Okuni herself didn’t know was possible to reach or obtain.

But it existed and wanted a stuffed unicorn by the name of Mr. Sparkles.

Before she could lament in mental poetic suffering that would have made Edgar Allen Poe weep, the door creaked open, to reveal Jimmy, Eizan and…

“What is that?” She furrowed her brows as the stuffed unicorn’s tiny button eyes met hers.

Jimmy grinned. “Okuni, meet Mr. Sparkles. Kindly gifted to us by...uh, someone, I guess. You see...”

“Sp...sp…” Another lament came from beside Okuni, and Jimmy rolled his eyes.

  
“You could have at least let me tell you the whole story.” he sighed, walking closer to the spot on the floor where Naginata was writhing and trembling (after her third failed attempt at lifting him up, Okuni had just sighed and covered the boy with a blanket). “There you go.”

“But how come you just...received it?” she asked Eizan, while Jimmy tried to tuck the stuffed animal under their ex-enemy’s blanket. “Wasn’t it back at Katana, somewhere?”

The boy shrugged. “No idea. I’m guessing someone must have known Naginata would want his stuffed toy back, but how they even knew where we were is a mystery.”

“But Naginata has it now, maybe we should leave it at that?” Eizan asked, watching the aforementioned boy cuddle up with the toy, something akin to a smile bubbling up across his melty maw, the unicorn itself almost sinking inside the blob-like form of its former owner. 

“Yeah,” she nodded, eyes still on Naginata, “It’s not important.”

And it wasn’t, really. Whether the toy had been thrown out of a window at Katana by some freshman with baseball player-like throwing abilities, fallen from the sky, or mailed to them by the Katana Principal’s chick themself, it didn’t really matter. She doubted anyone over at that place would be lifting a finger to help them in any significant way, but still, if they knew where Eizan and Jimmy were…

“Oh, no. What does he want now?” Jimmy groaned as Naginata shifted uneasily under his blanket, hands still clutching Mr. Sparkles.

Okuni furrowed her brows, stepping closer to the boy.

“I think he’s hungry. He only had half a pot of apple puree for lunch.”

She glanced at the stained smock hanging from the door handle. On it sat bits of the other half of the apple puree pot, plus the one carrot she’d unsuccessfully chopped up (her mom always said that all meals, breakfast included, had to include at least one vegetable. Well, obviously Naginata disagreed). 

She glanced back and forth from it to her friends, and then back to the smock again.

“So, since you two are feeling helpful today…”


	6. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Principal?

The sun had long set and the evening chill had set in as a young Katana student aimlessly walked down a dark, empty street. He stopped, momentarily distracted by the sound of an engine revving in the distance. Turning around, he saw the glint of headlights of a car of an older model, it must be a… truth be told, he didn’t know what kind of car it was nor did he care, as his heart was too busy racing at the sight of the beast, which ignited a foul memory from deep within him.

The bus hitting his friend. The paramedics. The trip to the hospital. Their friend’s mother wailing desperately, trying to plead with the doctors that her son was indeed  _ alive _ before staring at the boy and his friends with eyes so empty they could have belonged to a lake spirit.

It all came to him in a flash as the car passed him by, not caring that there was a half-naked kid on the side of the road, looking terrified out of their mind.

Feeling his senses slowly return to him, the boy took a few deep breaths, reminding himself that he’s safe, he’s on the sidewalk, that it wasn't even a bu- a vehicle from  _ hell, _ and that Na- his  _ friend _ would tell him to stop acting like a wussy.

He fumbled around with the dagger in his ‘uniform’s’ pants. Could this even be called a uniform? It felt like most people at his school wore whatever they felt like as long as it had black and orange somewhere on it, but he digressed.

Patting the knife back into place, the child let out a troubled sigh. The dagger wasn’t  _ just _ to mug people, as much as those losers at Shuriken wanted to put their two cents in about that, but it was also for his  _ protection. _

As much as the school tried to cover it up, Katana was a literal  _ prison. _ Regrettably, shanking was a common occurrence at the hellsite, but since solving problems diplomatically wasn’t in Katana’s vocabulary, they gave everyone knives because every problem can be solved by stabbing it. That was lesson one in the Katana handbook.

But despite the unsettling memory and the looming threat of getting stabbed by one of his so-called classmates that very night, Bruce Chang was _not_ _traumatized_ and did _not_ have _PTSD._

To show such weakness would be like inviting the grim reaper to his dorm and asking them to behead him with their scythe. It was a sure-fire way to get him weeded out and murdered in the middle of the night by some deranged psychopath with a knife going about some vague sense of ‘honor’ and ‘duty’ because ‘that’s the Katana way’.

Unfortunately, that  _ was _ the Katana way, but Bruce never saw past the rose-colored lenses until it hit him, metaphorically, as hard as the bus hit Naginata,  _ literally,  _ who was the de-facto leader of their little group up until this point.

But then that  _ fiend _ had to do the unspeakable. Stealing his friend’s body and mutating it into something unholy was a whole new beast when it came to the general idea of Katana having no moral resolve for anything they do or  _ will _ do.

Everyone else seemed to follow that mindset, forgetting about Naginata practically as soon as that bus hit him. It was like he never existed, wiped away like the blackboard of some boring theoretical class that theoretically  _ could _ exist somewhere at some point in time, unlike Naginata, who Katana was content at pretending they never existed and never will.

It wasn’t like they had a choice, however. Well, most of them didn’t. Some of the students and undergrads were  _ that _ corrupted by Katana’s putrid system, which was one step from being complete anarchy, that they wouldn’t bat an eye at the prospect of experimenting on a deceased student and then turning them into… something that Bruce couldn’t even bear to think about.

But most complied and obeyed out of  _ fear,  _ the fear that  _ they _ would be the ones given a fate worse than death should they step out of line. Hell, Naginata was the most loyal to the principal, that is, if you didn’t count the chick, and they did  _ this _ to him. Who knows what would happen if there was a person who  _ really _ pissed the hulking beast of a headmaster off.

There was a legend that, many centuries ago, the principal was a powerful warlord who was aided by the guide of a mystical and powerful warlock, whose proficiency in the dark arts could, supposedly, rival mother nature herself.

Those who refused to abide by the warlord’s rules were then slain or cursed by the warlord and warlock respectively. Reports had said that death by the warlord’s hands were an act of mercy compared to being cursed with eldritch magic by the warlock.

One of the lighter reports said that a woman was changed into a pig while a grimmer report said that an unlucky would-be-thief was sent to an alternate dimension, forever kept from the ones that he loved.

But it was all a bunch of bogus to Bruce, a bunch of made-up fairy tales to trick Katana students into being good little boys, lest they wind up under the curse of an  _ evil _ warlock because of an old-as-fart principal.

That was before everything changed right before his eyes. The boy didn’t know what to think about all of this. Naginata was  _ alive, but should he be?  _ The poor kid appeared to be in an ungodly amount of pain that no animal, human or not, should ever have to feel. Every time they spoke or tried to speak, it broke Bruce’s heart, which he wasn’t sure if he had until now.

A light smile found its way to Bruce’s face as they remembered perching themself on a tree for the third or so time that day, watching Naginata cuddle Mr. Sparkles, an odd and goopy-like ‘smile’ on their face, glubbing happily.

It was heartwarming to see Naginata  _ not _ be in constant agony, if only for a mere moment. But the warmth soon turned to red rage as they stepped down from the tree, wanting nothing more than to pulverize his principal to a pulp.

Naginata  _ deserved _ to be happy and alright. No, he deserved to be six feet under, that’s what he truly deserved. He remembered that Shuriken principal telling the three kids at that school that life and death weren’t  _ meant _ to be tampered with, and he found himself agreeing with the old man.

Agreeing with something a ‘Shuriken nerd’ had said? The world truly was changing, wasn’t it? But there was no way in  _ hell _ he was going to agree with anything else his principal would try to say, perhaps to excuse his actions and make him look like the victim.

Despite everything, Bruce  _ refused _ to be another statistic at Katana and he  _ refused _ to let Naginata suffer so…  _ inhumanely. _ It was a double-edged sword, however. It would be easy for the principal to pull some strings and have him killed as well or end up in the same or  _ worse _ position than Naginata. What about Katsuo and Catsuo? And Doku? He couldn’t leave them behind, just like that!

And yet,  _ he couldn’t leave Naginata behind, either. _

The only solution was staying in the shadows, helping the Shuriken nerds, but mostly Naginata, from behind the scenes. Tossing whatever his friend wanted or needed at his makeshift caretakers, at least until he had anything more substantial to offer.

But it would be a while. Any attempt to slither his way into the Principal’s good graces, given the situation, would have him on  _ very _ thin ice, and he, unlike Naginata, had never felt the need to learn to thread that ice. And besides, it would make helping Naginata in secret much harder. No, his best bet was just to try and keep his head down. 

He passed by a small building, a cupcake-shaped pink monstrosity made out of bricks. The sign “ICE PALACE by Mr. Marozzi” glowed just above the door, the neon green a stark contrast with the pale pink of the rest of the storefront. A faded dragon decal was the only sign Katana had ever been there. 

Normally, he would have considered going inside. Going up to Mr. Marozzi, with a smirk. Enjoying the panic in the man’s eyes as he gripped the cone he was filling with icy, sugary goodness so tight it broke in his hand.  _ No, not these little hooligans again. What did they want, this time? Weren’t the free flurries enough? _

But not today.

Spotting a small convenience store in the distance, he decided that would be a much safer bet if he wanted to grab something to eat for later. He and his friends were  _ not  _ ‘buddy-buddy’ with the store owner or anything like that, but the latter  _ did _ know their place and knew better than to ask  _ unnecessary questions. _ Though it wasn’t like Mr. Matsura didn’t have questionable habits of his own. A true Katana student can sniff out trickery and deceit miles away, though it took a talented pupil to detect which  _ type _ , something that Bruce was not, unfortunately.

Who knows what sort of antics this man pulled back in his day? Maybe he murdered his wife and changed his identity to hide from the law, maybe he was one of those… dealers. Whatever the case, Bruce knew that whatever heinous crime this man committed in his fifty or so years of life,  _ it still paled in comparison to what that principal did to Naginata. _ If Mr. Matsura wanted to come close to that, he better have stolen the launch codes to an atomic bomb or something. Better yet, he’d have to steal the whole missile and have it tucked away in the store’s basement or something.

But even  _ that _ would still be more impressive than anything. A convenience store owner secretly holding a weapon of mass destruction sounded like something Bruce  _ wanted _ to witness and it wasn’t something that disgusted and revolted him in every way.

Pushing his thoughts away as he pushed open the door, he quietly made his way into the small building. Mr. Matsura looked up from the magazine he was reading, though didn’t say anything as he studied the boy, giving a curt nod instead.

Walking past them, Bruce made his way towards the snack aisle, inspecting the many flavors of chips displayed on the shelves. Many of these snacks were  _ well _ past their shelf life, but that’s what you get for shopping at such a lowly store, one which tried its hardest to put the ‘con’ in convenience.

As he went to pick up a bag of off-brand BBQ-flavored chips, he froze, an eerie sense of paranoia washing over and making him feel like he was being watched. But looking back up, he noticed that the only other person in the store was Mr. Matsura, who was far too invested in his magazine filled with sensuous women to give the boy a second thought.

Bruce shook his head and picked up the chips along with some other snacks. It wasn’t much, but it would last. Well, it’d last for the ones who weren’t fortunate enough to have a decent lunch dropped off every day by their  _ mom! _ Thanks, Doku.

Taking the snacks, he made his way over to the counter.

“So, Mr. Chang has come here alone?” Mr. Matsura said, pushing his magazine to the side, “But I am not surprised that you are without your buddies, I heard the news.”

Bruce said nothing, placing his snacks on the marble countertop along with a five yenro bill.

“You and your friends are an odd group, acting like a bunch of rebellious teens. But I, Mr. Matsura, do not judge. Why should I judge the sins of another? Do not worry, young Bruce, I sense change in your future.”

The boy cocked his head and was about to ask the shopkeeper what they meant when they handed him one yenro bill.

“I sense some monetary change,” the man said, chuckling at his joke, “but I also sense a greater change in the air. I don’t know what’s been going on with you, other than the obvious, but there’s something in you that is...different, somehow. And a changed attitude brings about change. Never forget that.”

As he grabbed his chips and headed to the exit, the boy rolled his eyes. He’d thought pseudo-deep mumbo jumbo was those Shuriken nerds’ prerogative, but now, apparently, Mr. Matsura had been bitten by the philosophy bug too. And in this case, it wasn’t just a bug, but a big fat wasp, judging from the amount of trash he was spewing.

And that word. Change. It was a word that he’d never thought he’d hear again, as long as he was a ninja. Change wasn’t good, at least at Katana it wasn’t. To the Principal, it meant that someone was messing up his plans. To the students, it meant that a harsher teacher, a more dangerous mission, a plate of Brussels sprouts more bitter than the one before was coming. 

But maybe this wasn’t really change. No, they were used to things getting worse. And the Principal, as long as Shuriken had existed alongside Katana, had been used to someone messing up his plans. 

No, change, real, radical change was something that had to exist. But if it did, it was outside the gates of Katana, where everything had to stay what it was, only slightly growing in intensity as time went by. He’d heard from his dad that frogs cannot be put into water immediately, or else they’ll jump. But, if you put a frog in tepid water and turn up the heat little by little, it will be boiled to death before it can even realize it. At the time, he’d been too young to be enrolled at Katana or to even know what it was, otherwise he’d have realized the obvious parallel. Little by little, Katana was boiling them alive, and no one would be turning down the heat.

It was a long walk back to Katana, lengthed by the unease and dread that filled the cold spring air. While most would be afraid of getting robbed or mugged, even the most stone-cold criminals knew better than to touch someone from Katana.  _ They _ were the ones to usually do the mugging, after all.

He even passed one of those Shuriken nerds’ teachers on the way back. The bespectacled man gave him a sharp glare but didn’t say anything. All of those Shuriken teachers were huge creeps. That Russian guy with the beard had to be the creepiest of them, though the short man currently glaring at him came at a close second.

Kit, or whatever her name was, had  _ some _ dignity in her, even if she decided to waste it working at both Katana  _ and _ Shuriken. Like it or not, both schools sucked in Bruce’s brutally honest opinion, even if Katana sucked a little more. Okay, a  _ lot _ more.

Still, being glared at for  _ existing  _ wasn’t a pleasant experience either, but he couldn’t blame the man for doing so, with the stuff Bruce had done in the past, along with his buddies. But if it was another attack the teacher was so afraid of, then nerdy whatshisface was wasting his time.

It wasn’t too much longer until he finally reached the gates of his personal hell, though it felt like an agonizingly prolonged time until the principal, better known as the devil incarnate of this personal hell of his, buzzed him in.

“Ah, Bruce, it’s good to see you,” the intercom crackled, “Speak of the devil, I was wondering where you were. If it’s not too much to ask, I’d like to have a little chat with you. My office, five minutes.”

Bruce gulped.

They knew.  _ Of course they knew.  _ Why wouldn’t they? Why did he think for even a mere second that he could get away with being a traitor to Katana? For a mere second, he thought about running. He could leave and not look back, but where would he go? His family was on the other side of the prefecture, and he  _ refused  _ the notion to stay with Shuriken.

His only option? Don’t be a coward and take it. Sure, he hated that this is what it had come to, but in his opinion, it was better to die or get cursed, if the rumors were true, knowing you were doing the right thing at heart rather than just letting injustice happen with a smile on your face.

With this mindset, he opened his mouth to answer that yes, he would be meeting the principal, along with his fate, probably, in five minutes, but the gates were already sliding open. Moral dilemma or not, someone had already made the decision for him.

If he thought the walk back to Katana was long and agonizing, the walk to the principal’s office wasn’t much better. It was as if time itself was going slower just to mess with him, like the universe itself wanted to see him suffer. As he walked down the empty halls towards the office, he couldn't help but think how it reminded him of the day he was accepted into the school. That bright future he saw for himself seemed so far away now, clouded out by the darkness of reality. 

He only signed up for this school so that he could have a ‘less destructive’ outlet for his aggressive and borderline criminal tendencies. Hmm, perhaps criminal wasn’t the correct word. Unconventional? Let's go with that. That’s what the child psychologist called it at least. Besides, learning how to punch and kick things, even if it was under the guise of ‘ninjitsu’ and an ‘ancient art’, was still light-years better than anything else a ‘normal’ school would have to offer him and his many ‘talents.’ At least he thought so.

He started reflecting on his life in general. Where did it all go wrong? Why was he such a problem child? There was no reason, he just was that way. It wasn’t like he had a bad home life, not at all, even if his dad often had strange metaphors for things, such as boiling a frog alive. While his dad was unorthodox, he was still a good dad.

And now Bruce might not even get to say goodbye to them.

Oh, he was here. The knots on the dark, rough oak of the office door, which was rumored to have been there since the school was founded, and definitely looked it, stared at him, almost like a manifestation of the Principal’s invisible gaze that stared down at you and observed your every move from the moment you set foot into the school.

“Come in.” the Principal’s voice boomed. 

Of course they knew where he was. They would know where he was for the rest of his time at Katana until he became such a monster that the Principal wouldn’t even bother keeping an eye on him because he’d be doing his bidding anyway and not even realize it. He’d seen the dead-eyed stares of the older students enough times to know that that was what his future would look like. 

That is if the Principal didn’t kill him.

With a gulp, Bruce pushed the door forward. 

“You wanted to see me, sir?” He didn’t have the heart to add the customary apology.

The Principal was in his usual spot in the darkest corner of the room, and Bruce had to squint to even make out something beyond his feline yellow eyes and a spot of the dark red cloth of his shoes. 

“It’s good to see you, Bruce,” they said, their voice devoid of emotion, but somehow still sinister and unnerving, like a serpent.

“It’s an honor, Principal-sama,” the boy was lying through his teeth, but he wasn’t about to let the devil himself know that, “W-What do I owe the pleasure to?”

“Tsh, I thought you’d never ask. Well, since you’re such a curious student, I wanted to address a matter of… interest, to both you and me. Something that has been plaguing Katana for a while, something we need to deal with here and now. You remember Naginata, don’t you?”

Bruce felt like passing out when they mentioned his friend’s name. “Listen, sir, I had-” 

“Now, now, let me finish. Naginata was one of a kind, wasn’t he? A true master in every sense of the word, what every student should try to be, he would’ve made a fine headmaster had I ever decided that I didn’t want to run this buffoon circus anymore. But I was wrong and you know  _ why. _ ”

“I-”

“He gets himself killed fighting one of those Shuriken…I can’t even find a word to describe how pathetic they are. Both of them are pathetic. Who gets themselves killed by a bus of all things? So maybe I was wrong in my initial judgment and he was no better than any of those other… cretins. But you, you’re not.”

“Huh?” What was he saying?

“I’ve seen you fight, boy. The bloodthirst that drives you is something Naginata  _ wishes _ he had. Maybe I’ve been looking at the wrong person all along. Who cares about if you’re strategic or not? That’s something only Shuriken cares about. At Katana, we care about strength and willpower, which is something you’ve shown yourself capable of. I’m not giving you a promotion or anything to this circus of clownery, but those clowns you call your friends, keep them in line, honor Naginata’s memory, and  _ destroy _ Shuriken no matter the cost.”

Bruce froze. What was he supposed to do? Accept and become part of the principal’s sick game? Or refuse and get killed? Sure, he knew that a few minutes ago he was content with dying if it meant standing up for his friend, but if he died now, who would help Naginata? Surely not those Shuriken kids. They had no idea what this… fiend in front of him was capable of. And while Katsuo, Catsuo, and Doku had a clearer idea of just who the man was, this didn’t mean they were prepared to bear his inevitable wrath in any way. 

He would just have to play the game for a while, it seemed.

“Alright, Principal-sama, I promise that I won’t let you down,” he finished with a bow, hoping the 6’6 demonic man would buy it,  _ “or Naginata.” _

“Good. You are dismissed.”

As he walked towards the second-year students’ dorm, the conversation replayed in his head. Had the principal really told him to _ honor Naginata’s memory _ ? The very man who had made the poor guy what they were? The very man who had used and thrown out his friend like a Kleenex? 

He gritted his teeth, hot lava flowing through his veins. How dare they say such an insulting thing? He was hit by the uncontrollable urge to punch something, anything, preferably the principal’s face. But the hallways of Katana were bare, except for shiny marble and the heavy curtains the color of blood, hanging over nonexistent windows. 

Besides,  _ they were watching. _

Slamming the door to the shared dorm room open, he was greeted by the scowls of several of his adored ‘classmates’, many of them probably wondering if they should just jump him right now for entering like such a pompous tool.

But then again, anyone with half a brain knew that Bruce Chang was untouchable. Even with their self-appointed leader out of the picture, the four of them, Bruce, Doku, Katsuo, and Catsuo, were still a force to be reckoned with.

Speaking of which, his friends weren’t as annoyed by his arrival as their peers were. They almost seemed… happy to see him, which warmed Bruce’s heart up a little. Walking over to them, he shoved the bag of junk food under the cot that could charitably be called his bed before lying down, staring at the empty bunk bed above him.

“Is… Naginata okay?” Doku asked, his slow drawl making him sound sleepy, even though that’s how he usually talked. Granted, he hardly ever talked, especially  _ now. _

“He’s… He’s as fine as a… whatchamacallit can be,” Bruce responded, not in the mood for small-talk, “He’s got his stupid doll, he’ll be okay.”

The Katana student didn’t want to tell the truth, to be completely honest. While his friends weren’t the  _ best of the best, _ they didn’t deserve to know how much Naginata was suffering right now, that there wasn’t  _ anything _ any of them could do for their friend that wasn’t a menial little task. It wasn’t easy, but it was for the best right now. Nobody else should feel as awful as Bruce did right now.

The twins gave him a quick glance but didn’t say anything and went back to their argument over who would win in a fight between Batman or Spiderman.

“Batman’s the richest guy in Gotham,” Katsuo said, crossing his arms, “He’d just buy a bunch of gadgets that’d help him win, like bug spray.

“He can  _ buy _ bug spray, but he can’t buy superpowers!” the other twin protested, “Spiderman can wrap him up in his web and throw him into the harbor, problem solved.”

“What if he has a flamethrower? He can just burn the web.”

“Why would he buy a flamethrower to fight Spiderman? This is your problem, capitalism can’t solve  _ everything-” _

Bruce fell onto his cot, the rest of the twins’ argument becoming muffled and incomprehensible. It was garbage, all of it was. Not just their argument, which was garbage in its own right, but just  _ everything. _ At least the twins found  _ some _ kind of distraction to keep their minds off of  _ it. _

With that, Bruce closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.


	7. Bad Thoughts Give Me Bad Dreams

Thick snow pounded the city of Tokriohama. It had been snowing for at least a week with no break in the snowstorm. The city streets were blanketed in inches of thick and unmovable snow, hindering travel to many, while the grey clouds blocked out the sun, tiny flakes falling down at an alarming pace.

Nobody in their right mind would be out in this kind of snowstorm unless they absolutely had to. There were some people, however, who had chosen to brave the storm.

“Just give up, Doku,” Bruce sneered, holding a large snowball in his mitten-covered hand, “You’re no match for team… what’s our team name again?”

“Carnage,” Naginata answered back, unamused.

“Yeah, Team Carnage is going to kick your frostbitten butts!”

Doku wiped his nose, which was dripping quite heavily. “It’s not fair, you only have two people on your team, but we have three. How are you so good?”

“Maybe if you didn’t choose a dumb name like ‘Team Horsemen’’, you wouldn’t be losing so badly.”

“You know darn well that it’s an allusion to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Naginata!” one of the twins barked at him.

“Really? Then why didn’t you just call yourself ‘Team Apocalypse’ then?”

_ “Oh.” _

Naginata couldn’t help but snort at his companions’ antics. Sure, they were sometimes com _ pain _ ons to him, but he had to admit life at Katana wouldn’t have been the same without them being around. 

If all of the suffering he had to deal with meant days like this, where they could just throw snowballs at one another and forget about their ten hours of daily training, about the stale crackers at the cafeteria, about the man staring down at them and watching their every move, then the suffering was well worth it. 

He bent down and picked up a handful of snow, molding it into a perfectly spherical ball. Despite the simplicity of the action, there was something distinctly magical and captivating about the process, something that made the boy feel ecstasy deep within his soul.

It wasn’t an activity one would usually feel overjoyed about, but to Naginata, it was heaven. The compressed clumps of snow felt wet and cold on his gloves, but at the same time, it felt so natural, so freeing. He felt like he could do anything at that moment, anything at all.

“And another thi-”

The boy paused, dropping the snowball. It fell on the white carpet of snow and disappeared almost instantly as if it had never existed, its brief life ending as quickly as it began. But the destruction of such a beautiful creation was inconsequential to the young man who was confused and slightly frightened.

All of his so-called friends were gone, having vanished in the blink of an eye and leaving him alone in the freezing cold.  _ Great, just great. _

He groaned and squinted, trying to see the way out of this winter hellscape, though the snow, which was falling down even harder now,  _ yay, _ had made it nigh-impossible to see anything.

That wasn’t a problem. He’d just wander until he either found civilization or his way back to Katana. That, or ‘accidentally’ wander onto Shuriken territory and torment a few weirdos for fun. Choices, choices. Mulling over his choices, he repressed a shiver from the frigid wind and started his journey.

The wind howled loudly and it seemed that the further he went, the stronger it became, and the more he had to drag his feet through the snow. The landscape was now of a homogenous grey color, buildings and trees near-indistinguishable from each other. 

Well, wasn’t that just  _ amazing? _

“Hello?”

But his voice was deafened by the wind, and the only reply was a barrage of snowflakes falling into his mouth. 

With a sigh, he tried to conjure up the memory of the last orientation exercise. How long had it been? A month? Okay, so not that long ago. And although it wasn’t snowing, they’d been in an even more remote spot of the forest than now, the trees making it impossible to look for a way out even  _ before sensei smashed their compasses, _ barking at them that “I’m sorry, do you want me to call your mothers to pick you up too?”. 

Which was something Naginata was kind of starting to wish, wanting to see his mom’s pick-up truck pull over on the side of whichever road was closest, the doors opened slightly to let him in, Alanis Morrissette blaring from the speakers. He gritted his teeth at this momentary weakness. He’d always hated the Twins’ parent talk and he’d have hated Doku’s too, but thankfully they didn’t talk that much. All ‘Oh, what would mom say?’ here and ‘Dad taught us’ there. Such babies, still, and they’d been at Katana for how many months? Too many to still not know that a true ninja didn’t depend on anyone, much less their parents.

Still, a cup of his mom’s miso soup sure would have been nice right now.

He shook the thought out of his head. He didn’t need anyone. Not the others, not mom. Naginata could make it on his own.

Besides, this should be easy. Like last time, he’d only need to go north…wherever ‘north’ was now. He dragged his feet through the snow again, feeling it seep through his shoes and soak his socks, the damp cold sending shivers up his spine.

But he couldn’t give up, not here, not right now. How pathetic would that be? He could picture the headlines right now; ‘Stupid Kid Freezes to Death After Playing Outside and Getting Lost. Mother Wonders How She Ended up With Such an Idiotic Son.’

Still, he was hopelessly lost, and he didn’t know what time it was, but it would get dark eventually. Where would he go then?

As he mentally asked himself that question, he noticed something in the distance, past the trees and the snowdrifts. It looked like… well, it didn’t look like a cabin or anything cozy, but the grey, windowless building, albeit small, would have to suffice for the night, or at least until the snow stopped. 

With that in mind, the boy made his way towards the small building, hoping to find an entrance somewhere.

The closer he got to the building, the more of its features he could make out. The structure was smaller than he thought and looked more like a silo of some sort than a traditional building or warehouse.

Thick, concrete walls greeted him as he approached the ‘building’, inspecting the rusty metal door in the front. Despite the unfriendly appearance, he knew the only way inside would be through that door, and that, hopefully, the inside would not appear as abandoned as the outside did.

Pushing the door open, Naginata’s annoyance went through the roof upon seeing the grand spiraling staircase, going both up and down for what looked like dozens of stories.

He pondered which way to take and even considered going back outside for a millisecond, but looking back at the raging blizzard, this would at least provide  _ some _ shelter from the snow, even if it didn’t protect him from the cold temperatures. He shouldn’t be too picky, he was trying to protect himself from snow, not radioactive fallout.

Well, if he was going in, he might as well go down, there could be something useful, like food or warmth. Taking the way up would just lead up to the roof, and he did  _ not _ need to be stuck outside in the cold again or find that his only shelter there would be some stairs and moldy stone walls.

Down it is.

As his wet feet squished on the steps, it became clear that down wasn’t much better than up. 

The staircase, for starters, was much longer than he anticipated, and overlooked the utter and complete darkness of whatever basement was down there.

He wasn’t a skittish person, but he found himself cringing at the buzzing of dying flies coming from below him, their little bodies barely visible in the half-darkness. That was before the smell of putrid fish hit his nose, making him hold back a gag.

_ How long had it been since someone lived in this thing? _

After what felt like an eternity of climbing down the damp, stone staircase, he finally reached the bottom. The basement, if it could be called that, was lit by several buzzing lights hanging from the ceiling, but they didn't seem to do much to alleviate the darkness that engulfed everything else.

There were several overturned tables and stools strewn about, along with papers written in an unknown and indecipherable language. However, what caught Naginata’s attention the most were the walls, which were covered in strange symbols and markings.

Hesitantly, he made his way through the clutter, trying to get a closer look at the bizarre wall carvings. They portrayed several crudely drawn stick figures surrounding a... he couldn’t even  _ begin _ to describe what that  _ thing _ in the center looked like. The best way to describe it would be to say someone took a blob of whatever the heck they served at the cafeteria on Tuesdays and mixed it with melted garbage that had been left in the sun too long, and that was being charitable.

Yet, there was something hauntingly familiar about the grotesque blob-like entity, like he had seen it before, but from where?

“What…” he muttered, his voice echoing in the empty room, “Where  _ am _ I?”   
  
_ “Somewhere you shouldn’t.” _   
  
He jumped at the sound of the ghoulish voice, but when he turned back around, saw nothing but the dark, damp room.

“Come on, Naginata, it’s just the… the wind, yeah, the wind.” the boy said, though he couldn’t stop his voice from shaking as he spoke.

Ignoring his worries, Katana didn’t  _ show _ emotions, thank you very much, Naginata put his brave front up once more and continued to study the strange gibberish carvings on the wall. Looking under the depiction of the alien-thing and its… weirdo worshippers, he found writing, though most of it had been scribbled out.

_ ‘A death reversed- the curse- of his own.’ _

It was all that he could make out, but much like the blobby mass, the broken-up phrase resonated something within him. It all felt so surreal, like a case of deja-vu, and he didn’t know how or what he should make of the uneasy feeling.

He began to question his decision to come down into this bizzaro place, with the dusty cobwebs littered around the room, the overturned tables and papers, and the nonsensical writings and hieroglyphics scribbled on the walls. It was starting to seem more and more like a horror story of some sort, and he wanted out.

But as soon as he thought about getting out of there, at least out of that basement, an icy chill crept down his spine and he  _ knew _ he was being watched by something or  _ someone. _

Did he  _ want _ to turn around, though? Was he really itching to face the sum of his fears, whoever or whatever they were?

Whatever was behind him, however, was irritated by his indecisiveness.

_ “There’s no escaping your fate, Naginata.” _

Hearing the voice again, this time much sounding like it was  _ right behind him _ , his breath caught in his throat and he spun around, face-to-face with the demon of the dungeon.

But this was no ordinary demon.

The  _ thing,  _ if it could be called that,  _ resembled _ his principal, but there was something  _ off _ . Naginata didn’t remember the principal of Katana, as terrifying as he was, having an entire lower body of billowing smoke, which constantly writhed and shifted, forming wispy tentacles that reached out toward him. The eyes, the only feature retained from the principal's normal form, seemed to take great delight in the boy’s terror.

“What’s the matter?” they sneered, the shadowy tentacles twisting and bending, moving them closer to Naginata,  _ “Cat got your tongue?” _

“No! I… You scared me, I mean-”

_ “Hush now, my sweet child. _ Don’t waste your breath on me, I’m not here to harm you. You’ve already done  _ that _ part yourself, I’m afraid.”

“What… What are you talking about?” Naginata snapped back, hoping his ‘principal’ wouldn't notice his trembling legs.

The smoky demon let out a cackle in response. “Oh, Naginata. You never cease to amuse me. But since your mental capabilities are clearly  _ lacking, _ I suppose it’s only right that I shed some light on your situation. You remember your dear friend, the bus, don’t you?”

They froze upon hearing the demonic principal’s words.  _ Bus. _ The word brought back another feeling of intense deja vu for what felt like the tenth time that day. He heard it before, well  _ duh, _ he knew what a bus  _ was, _ but there was something else.

Hmm. Well, sometimes he and his gang took the bus, terrorizing everyone unfortunate enough to be aboard with them. No, that wasn’t it. When he was just a tiny toddler, not an adorable one,  _ thank you very much, _ he would ride on the bus with his mom when she had to run errands. No, that wasn’t it either.

Oh! That’s right! He was fighting with Eizan in the pouring rain and got hit by a bus!

_ Wait, what. _

He looked at his hands, feeling them become clammy and slick with sweat. If… If it  _ hit _ him, how… how was he still here?  _ How was he alive? Was… Was he alive?  _ If he wasn’t, then he wouldn’t be here now, right?

_ Right? _

He had to get out of here,  _ now. _ He had to run past that shadowy demonic principal and run all the way back home, no matter how long it took.

However, when he tried to bolt, his legs wouldn’t move. They stayed stuck to the ground, mocking him. Is this what true fear felt like? Is this what kept deer still in the headlights of- Okay, his hands were  _ seriously _ clammy and-

_ What was on his hands?! _

Naginata desperately tried to wipe the gunk off his hands, but as he looked down, he saw his legs were now dripping as well, merging into a singular blob, like some kind of naga.

“What… What is this?”

“Don’t you remember, Naginata?” the figure in front of him asked, a demented smile from ear to ear.

“No, I-”

Even more repressed memories hit him. Waking up, the… the lab, the principal. He could hardly move, he was in pain… and then…

His vision was darkening, though he could still see the color of that demon’s yellow eyes.

_ “It’s nothing personal, kid. Just business.” _

Naginata woke up with a shock, though the sudden pain of his melted flesh made him regret doing so. Was it really just a nightmare? No, it wasn’t. If it was, he would be back in Katana, with an actually solid form, or better yet, at home, in a nice warm bed. This… This was a nightmare all in itself.

Nearby, Eizan and Jimmy snored, unaware of their ‘roommate’s’ plights. Typical. Naginata let out a small groan and he attempted to shift himself into a proper position, which is easier said than done when you’re a formless blob of sticky flesh.

Raising a weak and drippy arm, he hugged Mr. Sparkles closer to him, feeling the tiniest bit of comfort with their presence. A month ago he would’ve scoffed at this show of weakness, especially from a Katana student, er,  _ former _ Katana student, but he had no idea what to think now.

Who… Whose side was he even on? A part of him still wanted to side with Katana, considering he had his friends there  _ and _ he also had a fair amount of butt-whoopings from Shuriken, but… they didn’t turn him into  _ this. _ They didn’t dig up his corpse, turn him into a mutant blob-thing, and then cast them aside like he was nothing more than a personal  _ pet project. _

That  _ monster. _ He… Okay, he didn’t  _ trust _ them, but he respected them, he did everything right! Why would they do this? It felt like utter betrayal and poor Naginata didn’t know what to think. Did he deserve this? Maybe. Karma had run its course and the boy got what had been coming for him  _ for a long time. _

Naginata curled up once more and shut his eyes, desperate to get back to a fantasy world where he could be… normal, again.

And yet...

If the principal was willing to do this to him without so much of a good reason, who knew what else they were willing to do to get their way?

They were all insignificant koi in the unfair pond called the Katana Principal's tyranny.


	8. Enemy Mine

A couple of days had passed since Marcos’ ‘meeting’ and the return of Naginata’s beloved stuffed animal, Mr. Sparkles. Not much had happened since then for _most_ of the students and faculty that were fortunate enough to call Shuriken School their home.

_Most._

Unfortunately, not everyone could say the same.

Eizan glanced at the vaguely human-shaped blob that was now his roommate. How long has it been now? At least a week, right? Or had it been… longer? No, it was definitely less or equal to a week, he was sure of it.

Kubo had given the boy more of what Jimmy had called a 'pity party', allowing them to ‘mope around’ in their dorm longer, even though it was _really_ to watch over Naginata because somebody had to. Why not Eizan? He had already spent a copious amount of time up there already, even before the ‘blob’ incident. 

Now, here he was, watching the blob that _used_ to be his rival try to grossly cuddle a stuffed unicorn. Truly, there was nothing better to do on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or whatever day of the week it was than this.

“You sure you don’t want Okuni to wash… Mr. Sparkles for you?”

Naginata let out a strained hiss at Eizan’s question, clutching the aforementioned unicorn plushie closer. The poor thing was coated in a new layer of what probably used to be Naginata's intestines, further ruining its once pristine fur. Still, the stuffed unicorn continued to have an expression of bliss, its corny, cheesy grin not faltering in the slightest. It was a level of restraint and dedication that Eizan could only hope to achieve one day.

And yet, the boy couldn’t help but find himself wincing as he stared at the messy sludge that poured off of Naginata like ice cream on a hot summer day. Despite all of the dripping, there seemed to be a never-ending stock of ‘Naginata goop’, always regenerating what he had lost.

Was his skin always this sickly looking? 

“Alllllright, then. No one will be washing Mr. Sparkles.”

Eizan rubbed the back of his head, uncertain as to where Mr. Sparkles even was, at this point, as it seemed to have been swallowed whole by Naginata’s...whatever melted internal organ it was. If he squinted, he could kind of make out a glittery muzzle. 

“Happy?”  
  


Naginata mhm’ed.

“Great.” Eizan sighed, plopping down on his bed. But _was_ it great? Could they really keep doing this? Letting Naginata stay here, like that, only capable of offering him temporary relief from the pain in the form of a stuffed animal? While he was dead for everyone else? 

He knew the Principal would be trying his hardest to find a solution to this, but what if not even he could? What if Naginata ended up staying, hidden away like that chained lady in the attic from the novel Okuni liked? Not even the increasingly filthy Mr. Sparkles could get someone through something like this for months, or worse, years.

As he stared at his new roommate, he knew he must also be wondering the same thing. It had been days since they had first found him...like that, and, if it had been hard for them, he could only imagine how hard it must have been for him. Enemy or not, no one deserved to go through that. 

“Hey, listen, I know this must be terrible for you, and I know you and I were never good friends, but if you want to talk about it, I...”  
  


The only response he received was an angry grunt. 

Eizan huffed. “Alright, you’re not in the mood to talk.” 

They gave a quick nod before drifting off.

Left with no choice but to ignore the figure sleeping right next to where he was sitting, he reached for the latest issue of Astroman in his backpack. Or at least, it had been the latest before the... _incident_. 

Doing his best not to wake Naginata up, he peeled the thin yellow plastic wrapping from the comic and smiled as the bright colors of issue #234 revealed themselves. On the cover, Astroman was, as always, standing with his arms raised towards the night sky, as his long-term rival, Hydra Man, unsheathed his katana. “THE FINAL SHOWDOWN” was written in bold letters on the top. 

Not wasting any time, he peeled off the rest of the plastic and turned the first page. He couldn’t help the giddy feeling in his stomach as he did so; comics were the one thing that hadn’t changed since… since ever, basically. And it would be nice to have a taste of normalcy, however brief. 

_“So you thought you could get away with this, Hydra Man? Gravely injuring Starburn, in the hopes I would take one of your spies as a sidekick? Joke’s on you because Starburn’s new robotic body will…”_

A groan came from beside Eizan. 

“Nobody's going to wash-" Eizan began, turning around, but froze when he saw his former enemy’s eyes on his comic, the usual borderline murderous expression having been replaced by curiosity and...was that interest?

“Uh..As..Ast…”

“You like Astroman too?”

“Uhh…”

“But…”

He was about to say ‘but how?’ when two eyes blinked back, glaring at him in annoyance as best as they could. 

Alright, that was a stupid question. But who could blame him? All this time, he’d always been the only one he knew who regularly bought and read Astroman comics. 

Not even his friends liked it that much. Jimmy would occasionally look at the more action-packed panels and get bored immediately afterward, while Okuni only liked the occasional star trivia on the back of the special editions of the comic. Even before Shuriken, he’d never met anyone who shared his hobby, aside from that one guy at the comic store. It being Naginata, of all people, seemed like a cruel twist of fate.

Besides that, the idea of _Naginata_ liking something he liked, seemed to him as outlandish as dragons teaching ninjitsu. 

He stifled a chuckle at the absurd comparison. Maybe he should read comics less often. The gesture, however, elicited a lament from Naginata.

“I’m not laughing at you, I swear! It’s...it’s just...I never pegged you as someone who liked comics, that’s all.”

Another grunt. 

“Okay! Fine! I won’t say anything about you liking comics ever again,” Eizan huffed, “you don’t need to be so touchy.”

A moment passed. 

“You… You wanna read it with me? I promise I’m not gonna judge you.”

The human-turned-blob bobbed up and down, which only served to make his already gelatinous form tremble more and more.

“I…’ll take that as a yes. Well, you’ll like this issue. I’ve heard that this is where Astroman finally defeats Hydra Man, and…”

A low whine cut him off. 

“Wait, you _like_ Hydra M…” Eizan started, but then shook his head, with a chuckle. “Of course. You and your... Naginata-isms.”

  
Not waiting for another groan of malcontent, Eizan turned the first page and began to read. 

_“So you thought you could get away with this, Hydra Man? Gravely injuring Starburn, in the hopes that I would take one of your spies as a sidekick? Joke’s on you because Starburn’s new robotic body will give us the strength needed to beat you once and for all!”_

_Hydra Man chuckled. “I'm undefeatable, Astroman. I am eternity, while you are nothing but an inconceivable atom in the fabric of infinity. An infinitesimal ragworm like yourself would have a better chance at winning a fight with a bumbling preschooler than with me, death incarnate.”_

_“That’s not true, I’ll-”_

Eizan paused, seeing Naginata shake with small tremors. “You okay?”

Now that the boy thought about it, Hydra Man _did_ remind him of the Katana principal a bit. Their use of ominous sesquipedalianisms for the sole purpose of tormenting the ones unlucky enough to cross their path, the fact that they would use any dirty or cheap tactic to get what they wanted, maybe this was why Naginata liked, or respected, Hydra Man?

Eizan thought it was because Naginata preferred villainy more than heroics, but like Kubo once said in a lesson, everything has a hidden depth to it. Perhaps there was something deeper than an average fan’s idolization of a certain character to the point one would consider it extreme or really specific in taste.

Maybe it was out of _fear?_

Maybe Naginata admired Hydra Man because he felt like he had to, considering his own principal was a carbon copy of the diabolical supervillain, and if he didn’t, then he would be saying that he hated his principal, and that would end badly.

But that was before they did _this_ to Naginata. Was… Was Naginata _scared_ of Hydra Man? 

“We can take a break if you like.”

Naginata grumbled, his gelatinous form withdrawing in itself. The upper part swung from side to side. _No_.

“You sure? I know I’m getting kinda spooked out by all this. So I’d actually prefer it if we took a break.” 

“Ugh...w..wha..t...a...bab...by,” a pause, just enough to take a breath. “Fi..ne”

As his former foe rested his head, glowing with a strange sort of pride at having spoken a complete sentence despite their exhaustion, Eizan put the comic away, for the time being, wondering if now was the time to catch up on his studies or not.

He hoped his friends were having a better day than he was.

Another day of classes had gone by, Kubo’s long-winded teachings were the same as always, boring and uninspiring to the young ninjas, who would much rather play outside in the park than listen to him drone on about the ancient art of distractive illusion or witness his physical ineptitude as he clumsily attempted to demonstrate the technique.

While every student was filled with relief to be free of his class, there were two students that were especially glad.

“You think it was him?”

“I don’t know, Jimmy,” Okuni shrugged as she slid her notebook back in her bag, lowering her voice as she looked around the rapidly emptying classroom, “I can’t be one-hundred percent sure, but who else could it be?”

It was Jimmy’s turn to shrug. 

“No idea. But what I don’t get, is why you’re getting so worked up about it. It’s a stuffed unicorn. And he has it now.”

Okuni rolled her eyes as if she was talking to a toddler. 

_“Sure_ , but whoever threw it at you knows that... _you know who_ is here. And they haven’t done anything about it, despite clearly being somehow connected to Katana. Which means…”

“Yeah?”

“That whoever’s out there… they have our back. Or...well... _his,_ if you can _call_ it a back. And if it’s who I think it is, then they might be in a position to help us, and him, further. If we’re lucky, that is.”

“That is, considering how things have been going up until now, you might not wanna hold your breath here.”

As they walked out, still pondering what they had dubbed ‘Sparklesgate’ and its ramifications, Kubo called out after them.

“Jimmy, Okuni!”

They turned around, trying to hide their grimaces. _Please, don’t let it be extra homework, please don’t let it be extra homework..._

  
“Yes, sensei?”

The man cleared his throat. “I… wanted to say, I think it’s really… uhm… kind and thoughtful of you to take care of Eizan during this situation he’s been… going through. And ... I’d say it’s a behavior worthy of a true ninja, as well. Putting others’ needs before one’s own when the situation calls for it. Please tell Eizan and N...please tell _Eizan_ that the rest of the staff here at Shuriken is always available, should he need...help. This goes for you two as well, of course, and uh… anybody here that needs it.”

“We’ll… keep that in mind,” Okuni said. “And I’m sure Eizan will appreciate it, as well.”

The teacher nodded, seemingly content with the answer, and turned to the blackboard, giving the two a quick wave goodbye. They had barely had the time to turn around, however, when they heard an equally familiar and much more annoying voice.

  
“I’m onto you two!”

Okuni frowned, resisting the urge to slap Daisuke’s pointed index finger away from her and Jimmy’s faces. What did he even want? 

“I know what you’ve been up to!”

He knew what they’ve been- _Oh no_ . From the corner of her eye, she noticed Jimmy’s eyes widen and knew he must be thinking the same thing she was. _Daisuke couldn’t possibly know...could he?_

“What...what are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Jimmy B! Did you really think no one would notice how secretive you’ve all been?”

“Is that what this is about?” Okuni said, groaning internally, “Daisuke, you _do_ realize that we haven’t been _secretive_ on our own free will, we’ve been helping Eizan with… uh… um... things?”

“What _things_?” Daisuke smirked, knowing he had their full attention.

Now it was Jimmy’s turn to step in. “Things that are none of your business! Do you have to stick your dumb, pointy nose into everything? Do you even care about what Eizan’s going through or are you more concerned about how you can make this situation all about you?!”

“That was a _month_ ago. Besides, it wasn’t even somebody he _liked.”_

_“Listen here you-”_

_“You’re real cute, Jimmy,”_ Daisuke interrupted, “We’re friends, right? Of course we are, who wouldn’t want to be friends with _me?”_

“Lots of-”

He cut Okuni off and slid a little too close for Jimmy’s comfort. “And as your friend, I shouldn’t be left out of your little sneaky shenanigans with Eizan, because that’s not what friends do. Come on, Jimmy, I’m an honorable ninja, I won’t tell a soul. Besides, I’ve liked you way more than the others. We could be... more than friends.”

_“Are… Are you flirting with me?”_

Daisuke’s smile faltered, his face turning red. _“WHAT?!_ N-No! Why would you say that?”

_“You’re not?_ Because when you said becoming ‘more than friends’, what else was I gonna think? There’s nothing wrong with having a crush on me, Daisuke, I know quite a few girls back in my home city who I managed to woo with my impressive breakdancing.”

_“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”_

Okuni, on the other hand, had begun to howl with laughter at Daisuke’s plight.

“This isn’t funny!”

“I beg to differ,” she managed in-between laughs, Daisuke’s horrified expression making her chuckle even harder. “But if it’s any consolation, I think you would make a _wonderful_ couple.”

That only served to tick Daisuke off even more.

Huffing, the boy straightened himself out. “Fine, you win _this round,_ Jimmy and his obnoxious sidekick, but mark my words, I _will_ find out what you’ve been doing behind closed doors, you can’t hide from me, forever! _Mark. My. Words._ ”

With that, he stormed off, leaving the two alone once more.

“Well, that was something…” Jimmy muttered, looking over at Okuni, “Should we, you know, leave?”

She nodded. “That’s probably for the best.”

It was an uneventful trip back to the dorms, though the two friends found themselves questioning what had just happened _and_ the sanity of their schoolmates.

“So… what even happened back there?”

“I’m not sure, but it was beautiful,” Okuni commented, “I’m just glad that Daisuke’s still his usual oblivious self. We definitely don’t need anyone investigating what’s going on.” 

“Tell me about it, why’d we think Daisuke _would_ know, anyway? Why not someone with, say, more than half-a-brain?”

“ _You_ have half of a brain and _you_ know,” she said, snickering at Jimmy’s glare, “Like I said, you’d make a wonderful couple.”

Jimmy rolled his eyes, unamused. “Whatever. Oh, look! It’s my room! Now we can check up on Eizan and… the thing that we’re helping him taking care of... and drop this whole conversation entirely and never bring it up again!”

He was already running up to the door and practically slamming it open, leaving Okuni to simply shake her head and follow him inside. _“Boys.”_

_‘The word ‘Ninjitsu’ was first attested in…’_

Eizan sighed, rubbing his temples. His Ninja History notes stared back at him, the curved letters blurring together into a confusing blob.

What was the point of asking your friends for their notes if you couldn’t even read them? It wasn’t as if he didn’t understand his friend’s writing or even this particular topic, but it felt like he was an archeologist trying to decipher hieroglyphs. Instead of giving way to images of great battles and brave warriors, the words on the page were just dead, meaningless markings. 

_...when this great battle began…_

Wait, what battle? Had he missed something? Great, time to start again, from the beginning. Eizan groaned. Why couldn’t he concentrate? He was just about to turn the page when the door slammed open. 

“Okay, get your nose out of that book, we have news for you!”  
  


“JIMMY! Do you _want_ to wake Naginata up?!” Okuni groaned, pointing to the snoozing figure close to Eizan’s side, “Because if he does, then he’ll start whining again and we’ll never hear the end of it.”

Eizan looked up from the page. “Hey guys, how was class?”

“Same old, same old. Kubo gave us the same boring lessons about this and that, we took the same boring notes, as usual, speaking of which,” Jimmy tossed a stack of notes on top of the history book, “here you go. Naginata hasn’t been giving you any trouble, has he?”

“Not really, he’s been sleeping for a while now,” Eizan pointed towards Naginata’s melted figure, which continued to snore loudly, despite the ongoing conversation, “But I’ve been thinking, do you think him being like this is messing with his mind? Earlier today, he wanted to look at the comic I was reading and read it with me! That doesn’t sound a lot like him, does it?”

“Well, he spit carrot puree on me just yesterday,” Okuni commented, “I think he’s just… stressed out and tired, anybody would be. I know you know him as _Naginata, Patron of Doom and Bringer of Despair,_ but he’s still a person, a _kid_ at that, and we don’t know much about his life, other than the obvious. Who knows what he’s been through.”

“But…” the boy began, before looking at Naginata once more and letting out a deep sigh, “You’re right. I’m not used to him being so… affectionate, but then again, I haven’t interacted with him outside of the typical ‘Shuriken vs Katana’ rivalry, so I guess I can’t say I’ve known who he really is or who he was before Katana.”

“And it looks like he didn’t know you, either.”

Eizan nodded. “Yeah, I guess not, Jimmy. _I guess not.”_


	9. And If Our Good Fortune Never Comes...

The sun began to fall beyond the edge of the world, painting everything in an inky veil of vivid color, with the sky a darkened crimson red and the clouds as various shades of magenta and purple. For Kubo, who was a poet at heart, there was no sight as awe-inspiring as the fragile transition from a bright day to a star-filled night, the light of the day slowly fading away into the cold darkness. It was a scene that could make one forget about all else.

Unless one’s problems were as vast as the sky itself, that is.

“Are… Are you sure you want to do this, Principal-sama? I’m sure there’s… there’s some other way than to leave _entirely._ ” He felt like that of a child being abandoned by their parents on the first day of school, scared and alone.

“If there was, I would have gladly taken it, Kubo-san,” they responded, “but I’m afraid this is the only way if I want to help Naginata.”

“Tell me again why we’re helping _him,”_ Vlad grunted, casting a dark look at the dorms. Try as he might, the idea of Naginata being there, in their school, almost certainly as part of one of the Katana’s Principal’s plans, still made him uneasy.

“Because he’s a _child, Vlad,”_ Kubo said, his voice barely above a whisper, “imagine how scared he must be. I know we’ve had our differences in the past with Katana, but I don’t think it’s morally acceptable or justifiable to refuse to help a child in need. I mean, have you _seen_ the kid?”

“Besides, do we really want to just dump him back on Katana’s doorstep?” Kita shuddered. “I can’t imagine a _certain someone_ would be glad to see him.”

Vlad rolled his eyes. _“Fine._ But I do hope you have an explanation ready for when all of this blows up in our faces. Do you _really_ think you can keep this a secret from everyone else, especially when their principal is going on a ‘business trip’?”

“We’ll sure _try,_ if we play our cards right, nobody else will know about this. Principal-sama will fix this and then-”

“And then what, Kubo? Don’t forget, our little… _‘guest’_ is supposed to be _dead!_ Don’t you think it would be, I don’t know, suspicious, if they’re suddenly seen out and about without so much as a scar or bruise? It’s not exactly natural causes or a sudden bout of pneumonia we’re dealing with here!”

“I’m aware of _how_ they died, _thank you very much,”_ Kubo snapped. “I’m also aware of the fact that Naginata is in no condition to be out and about.”

  
“But what about later on? If…”

Shaking her head at her coworkers’ bickering, Kita turned towards the principal. 

“Will you be alright, Principal-sama? If you want, one of us can come with you.”

The Principal shook his head.

“No, no. It’s best if you three stay here, for the time being. The situation is fragile as it is, we don’t want to be scattered around Japan, should something come up. Besides,” he added with a small grin, “I can take care of myself, I’m not senile _yet_.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to imply…”  
  
“No need to worry, Kita. Thank you for your offer. But it’s probably for the best that I leave, alone. Your students need you, just as much as they need your friends,” the principal gestured to Kubo and Vlad, whose bickering was starting to remind Kita of an old couple, “Zumichito can handle my responsibilities, isn’t that right?”

The aforementioned groundskeeper nodded. “You can count on me. Though I have to admit, I _will_ miss you.”

“And I’ll miss you too, old friend,” the principal paused to wipe a small tear from his eye before continuing, “but not to fret, I’ll be back before you know it, you probably won’t even notice I’m gone! _I sure hope our students don’t notice.”_

There was an uncomfortable silence after the principal’s speech until Kubo broke away from his argument with Vlad and walked towards the three, clearing his throat. “I… just wanted to say, good luck to everyone. You’ll do your best to help Naginata, won’t you, Principal-sama?”

“Of course, as I have always done for anyone in need, and I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as in need as this poor boy.”

“I… understand, just… be careful out there, alright?”

“What, are you his mom now or something?”

Kubo ignored Vlad’s comments. “I know you’re capable of handling yourself and everything, but it’s a big world out there and-”

“And your _mommy_ is worried you’ll trip and get a nasty _boo-boo.”_

The two went right back to their childish and pointless bickering, ignoring everything else that was going on.

“Someone really ought to take them to a marriage counselor, if there’s something like that for friendships,” the principal joked, cracking a small grin before turning to Kita, “I take it that you’ll be keeping an eye on them?”

“As always,” she replied, straightening out her posture, “though I’m afraid it’s impossible to stop _all_ of their juvenile disagreements.”

“I suppose I can live with that,” he said, a small laugh escaping between his words, “I guess it’s time for me to make like a tree and leave.”

“Wait!” Kubo said, turning back around, “Where… Where will you go?”

“That is something you’ll know in due time, Kubo-san.”

The man cocked his head, confused.

“But don’t worry, I’ll be perfectly safe, I’ve survived for this long, haven’t I? That other principal has nothing on me, I can tell you that.”

“Well, you are indubitably the wisest person in this room, so I shouldn’t cast doubt on your judgment. You’re the best and we all know it.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Kubo. I know I seem all high and mighty, but I’m just another human being, flaws and all. And besides, you’re worth way more than you think, all of you are, you have my uttermost respect.”

Kubo froze and was slightly slack-jawed at the sudden compliment. “You… You mean it?”

“Well, of course, why wouldn’t-”

The principal was cut off by Kubo pulling him into a bear hug, tears streaming down the latter’s face. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me! Well, anyone outside of my family, that is.”

The other sympathetically patted his back. “I’m... I’m happy you feel that way, Kubo-san. Now, if you don’t mind, could you please let me go? I didn’t know you… were… so… strong…”

“My apologizes, Principal-sama, I got a little carried away.”

“A little?” Vlad asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s alright, Vlad,” the principal responded, dusting himself off, "I don't blame Kubo for getting a little emotional during all this, it’s only natural to feel overwhelmed, and if I’m being honest... Oh, I’ll miss all of you terribly!”

Now it was the principal’s turn to get teary-eyed, and this time it wasn’t just Kubo who rushed over to comfort him.

“You know, you don’t have to-”

“But I must,” the principal cut Kita’s question off, staring at the floor beneath him, “If I don’t, who will? And before you say anything, I simply can’t put this kind of a burden on anyone else. This is something _I_ have to do, _alone.”_

With that, he broke free from the group hug and began to walk towards the door. It would lead him into the outside world, a place that held uncertainty, but it could also hold the truth, as well. Maybe he’d be able to find an answer to stopping an innocent child’s suffering, maybe he wouldn’t.

But one thing was for certain; nobody would be able to solve anything if they just sat around in this school, doing nothing.

He cast another glance over his shoulder as he placed his hand on the doorknob. His staff, coworkers, _friends,_ were there watching him, worried, but also certain that the principal knew what he was doing.

He might not succeed in trying to find the answer he was looking for, but he was sure of one thing; no matter what happened, wherever he ended up going, his friends would have his back.

Giving a quick nod of reassurance, the principal opened the door and disappeared into the unknown.

Night soon engulfed the city like a sinister shadow, clawing at the light of the day with fingers of despair and causing the sun to surrender to its fate at last. Streetlamps flickered to life, illuminating the darkened sidewalks with pools of artificial light, while a lone owl hooted somewhere in the darkness.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?” Kubo asked, peering down at the streets below.

The rooftop wasn’t the most aspiring place to have chitchat, but it did give a clear view of the stars and the city, which was breathtaking. Lake Akayama could be seen in the distance, shimmering and sparkling under the pale moonlight.

“He’ll be fine, you worry too much,” Vlad responded, “If anything, I think your middle name should be ‘worry’ not… what _is_ your middle name?”

“Uh, I don’t have one. It’s just Kubo. Well, it’s technically Kubo Utamaro, but that’s it.”

The larger man chuckled to himself. “Well, in that case, I guess you wouldn’t mind if I gave you ‘worry’ or ‘worrywart’ for a middle name, huh?”

Kubo rolled his eyes in response. “Sure, Vlad, whatever.”

“I don’t think being concerned about Principal-sama’s safety is a bad thing,” Kita said, sharing her coworker’s annoyance, “It doesn’t make you, or anybody a worrywart or anything like that, it’s common decency.”

“You think so?”

She nodded. “Of course! Now, can you tell me more about your daring escape from that Katana student?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Kubo began, telling a story that had probably already been told twenty or so times so far, “I was walking back to the school last week, but who is it do I run into? I don’t know those kids’ names all that well, I think it was uh… Billy? Bob? Brandon? Eh. Either way, I was in a _dangerous_ situation and I had to think quick or else-”

Vlad muttered something in his mother tongue and tuned out the rest of Kubo’s ‘story’, scoffing slightly as he looked at the crystalline lagoon, deep in thought. Sighing, he mumbled something under his breath. _"_ _What a softie.”_


	10. Here's To Whatever Comes

In the world of ninjitsu and martial arts, Katana was a prestigious school, only for the best of the best, the elite of the elite. The school was known for its rigorous training for those  un fortunate enough to get accepted into its program, ensuring long, grueling hours that were not only mentally and physically exhausting, but also demoralizing and torturous.

That’s what the rumors surrounding the place claimed, anyway. Word of mouth and second-hand information stated that it was all led by a power-hungry and corrupt ‘principal’ who had no qualms in manipulating his students for his own gain, slowly turning them into mindless drones that he could do with as he pleased.

But that’s all they were; rumors churned out by the rumor mill to destroy the reputation of an otherwise respectable school. No matter what the rumors spewed out or whatever conclusions some conspiracy theorist reached about this particular school, at the end of the day, it remained a top-tier school in the city and neighboring prefectures, the only ‘conspiracy’ being the conspiracy itself.

But every great rumor emerges from a seed of truth, the unbiased reality of which was buried under layers of hearsay and suspicion, waiting for someone to dig through the soil and unearth it.

_ Unfortunately, this reality was much harsher than any rumor made it out to be. _

“So, that pathetic excuse for a principal and his team of incompetent teachers  _ really _ think they’ll be able to fix what’s broken?” the Katana Principal asked, watching the crystal ball in front of him with amusement.

The vision that was projected in the ball, while cloudy and murky, unmistakably showed the Shuriken Principal stepping outside of his respective school, looking around cautiously as if he was being followed before jumping out of view. The wizard, better known as Mahōtsukai, stopped powering the crystal ball with their magic and glanced up at the man, a dull expression on their face. “It would appear so.”

“That is quite hilarious. In fact, it’s hysterical. My sides are retching with the horrid sound of canned laughter,” the principal mused, his face still impassive but a smirk playing at the corner of his lips as he watched the vision disappear, “I feel like I’m going to burst with hilarity! Get Naginata and tell him- Oh, that’s right! Naginata’s  _ GONE!” _

The Katana Principal started snickering as he thought back to his former ‘sidekick’ before clearing his throat. “But that brings me back to  _ our _ problem. I don’t  _ care _ what that lousy principal does or what he thinks he can accomplish by leaving, but our dear Naginata is a  _ threat  _ to everything I’ve worked for. Well, Naginata  _ himself _ isn’t the threat, but his new  _ supporters _ are. We have always been at war with Shuriken, but now they’re ready to take their hatred for us, me in particular, to a whole new level. Do you see why this is a problem we must remedy as soon as possible?”

The warlock solemnly nodded, holding back the urge to tell the man that it was, truthfully, entirely their fault that Shuriken was so enraged at the moment.

“I’m glad you agree, old friend. You and I both know that if this were to, say, slip out of our control,” The principal’s voice darkened, “neither one of us would see the light of day ever again. Some might say that I deserve such a fate for the entirety of my colorful past and then some, but I’m not  _ that _ bad of a person.”

Mahōtsukai said nothing and straightened his limp form out, his cold, undead eyes staring directly at his ‘master’.

“Okay, okay, I  _ know  _ I’m not a  _ saint _ , you don’t have to give me that look,” the principal continued, rolling his eyes as he spoke, “But we simply  _ must _ do something about Naginata and the goons that have decided to take him in before someone  _ important _ finds out about my little experiment.”

_ “Kill him.” _

_ “Not yet. _ Can’t you see, Mahōtsukai? This is a golden opportunity, a way to get rid of Shuriken for  _ good.” _

The wizard cocked their head, quizzically. “And what part do  _ I _ play in all of this?”

The principal sighed, muttering something under his breath that Mahōtsukai couldn’t quite catch. “Aren’t you a clever one? So perspicacious. Well, not to worry, if you think I summoned you here to merely gripe about my shortcomings like a teenager whose unfaithful hag of a mother just took away their car keys, then you’d be wrong. Surely, you haven’t forgotten about your  _ gifts,  _ have you?”

“No, I haven’t, but-”

“Don’t tell me you’ve gotten soft!”

“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I do not  _ care _ for those lifeforms. They are weak and pathetic, their very  _ existence _ pollutes the ground we stand on,” Mahōtsukai waved their hand dismissively, “But my question is what good will come out of using my… gifts? I could easily crush them all with a single finger, but that would be far more noticeable to the public eye, I would imagine.”

The principal chuckled, darkly. “I have a way to get rid of those annoying miscreants without anyone having to know about our involvement. I would like to introduce someone to you, someone who has been with my school for many, many years. Come in.”

The door swung open and a tall, bulky man walked in. They appeared to be relatively young, no older than twenty, though their face was worn with years of hardships, covered in scars and wounds. There was an air of strength around them, almost as if anyone who dared to cross them would be greeted with hours of brutal torture.

The wizard scowled as soon as they laid eyes on the newcomer, watching them intently as they made their way towards the front of the room, their uniform blending perfectly with the dim lighting of the principal’s office.

“Ah, Takeo, just in time,” the principal cooed, “I take it that you know why you’re here.”

Takeo grunted in agreement, not much for small talk.

“A mercenary. I see how it is,” Mahōtsukai finally spoke, frowning deeply, “I’m not going to judge you for your actions, master, but I thought we weren’t going to slay anybody this time.”

“He’s not going to kill them, idiot! Just… ruffle some certain people up for a while. You know, a distraction while we set up for the  _ main event, _ which will shake Shuriken to its core and make them reconsider caring so dearly to Naginata. Should everything go according to plan, the roadkill that used to be a barely functional human will be back in our grasp, then we can figure out what we’ll do with him.”

Mahōtsukai took in the principal’s words, nodding. “I… see. Still, I must ask you this question. What ‘ _ gifts’ _ of mine are you referring to, exactly? There’s a great number of things that I am quite proficient in.”

“Don’t worry about the specifics. Just go along with the plan and make sure Takeo sticks with it. We don’t need another betrayal like  _ Bruce’s,” _ they said, voice laced with venom as they mentioned Bruce, “but I have faith in Takeo. You won’t let me down, will you?”

The man shook his head in response.

_ “Good. _ I’ll give you two the details on how I want this done when it’s time to strike.  _ Those fools won’t know what hit them.” _

Mahōtsukai looked back at Takeo, inspecting them further. While the wizard didn’t care too much about sensing a person’s aura, there was something about the man’s aura, which had a putrid and all-around foul scent to it, that made the warlock feel further concern.

Something was rotten in the state of Katana.


	11. Kubo Snaps

The words of the principal lingered with Kubo for days after he had left.

_ “That is something you’ll know in due time, Kubo-san.” _

What had he meant by that? Where would he go? Why did he not want anybody else to know? The older man was well-known for being cryptic and enigmatic with his words, especially when it involved something he didn’t want anyone else to know, anyone else, in this case, being the Katana Principal in the offhand chance they had one of their spies reading into the conversation.

There was surely a good reason for their elusive statements, and Kubo would just have to be patient.

At least Principal-sama  _ had _ the decency to give a reason for his secrecy instead of making impulsive decisions at the drop of a hat with no thought for the well-being of those around him, unlike a certain coworker that Kubo knew.

While he had  _ forgiven _ Vlad for impersonating a student in his class and then proceeding to waste Kubo’s time by making him chase them around the school since the poor teacher was in the vague impression that ‘Ed’ was a spy from Katana, it didn’t mean he had  _ forgotten  _ about it.

Nuh-uh.

As long as they were both teachers at that school, Kubo would make sure that Vlad didn’t forget about it either.

However, despite the assertion that he would, eventually, have his revenge, as petty as it was, the ‘revelation’ of the true identity of the so-called  _ ‘Ed’ _ didn’t help him in his attempts to rest his troubled mind for a night of sleep. No matter how many different sleeping positions he tried, his unrelenting paranoia kept him wide awake in his bed.

Well, it wasn’t  _ his _ bed, per se, the school owned it, but it felt like he had spent enough time in the dorm assigned to him that it felt like it was truly his. Besides, he’d choose this place over the noisy apartment he lived in any day. He still occupied it whenever he wasn’t on dorm duty, but unfortunately, he rarely got a good night’s sleep. Someone was always screaming something to someone down the hall or just screaming for no reason.

But considering his position, it wasn’t like he was at that particular apartment a lot, anyway. Why spend money on a place you’re not going to be at most of the time? Financially, it didn’t make sense, though he might’ve picked up a few financial tips from the princ- and he was right back at thinking about them.

It was a vicious cycle. And unfortunately, for Kubo, it was about to get a  _ lot _ worse.

Just as the teacher started to doze off and dream of sweet nothings, a loud and startling crash jolted him back into reality, the reality of a ninja school where, while things such as broken glass and loud crashes were not uncommon, they certainly didn’t mean anything good. 

At least, in his experience.

He rolled over and felt for his glasses on the nightstand, slipping them on when he found them. 

“Hello?” he called out, suppressing a yawn. 

No answer. 

It was starting to look like he’d have to take a look at the situation himself. With any luck, he’d find one of the kids on the floor, having broken some glass case or other, a situation not ideal, but, given all that had happened in the last few days, still manageable. 

“Is everything okay?” he called out again.

Silence.

  
Alrighty, then. Kubo huffed, putting on his slippers and reaching towards the chair, where a dark blue robe lay. It wasn’t exactly the picture of fashion, nor decorum, but he figured showing up in his pajama would not exactly convey the “authoritative teacher” image he was trying to get across and which was extremely important to maintain in the Principal’s absence. He couldn’t let Principal-sama come back to a school that had fallen in complete disarray.

_ Oh, who was he kidding? With the way things are going, complete disarray would be an improvement. _

Throwing the robe on, he slowly opened the door, wincing at the unnecessarily loud creak it made as it swung open, only to find… nothing there. It was completely dark, save for the moonlight that was coming in through the windows.

But as he took a hesitant step into the darkness, he froze, mentally facepalming as he realized that he was stepping into the unknown, completely unarmed. While this wouldn’t be a problem for someone like Vlad, who practically lived in the gym, Kubo didn’t have the luxury of being well-built like Vlad or having the strength of... well, anybody, really. Stepping into the darkness without any means of defending himself, should such a scenario arise, was not an option.

What would he even defend himself with, though?

He glanced at his room, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon, but to his dismay, it was cluttered with clothes, books, and other personal items. Normally, he’d never let it get to this state, but Principal-sama’s abrupt absence had left a nasty mark on not just him, but the rest of the staff and faculty as well. Heck, he’d even overheard some of the students questioning their principal’s whereabouts and why they had to leave so suddenly. But Eizan, Jimmy, and Okuni never said a word.

Disregarding the mess and his thoughts, he stepped back into the dorm room, taking caution to shut the door as gently as possible and lock it. Just as a safety precaution, of course. Now, he only had self-defense to worry about. Hopefully.

But what ordinary object would he be able to use as an impromptu weapon? And secondly, which of these hypothetical impromptu weapons would be able to properly defend him, should the poor man be unfortunate enough to actually run into an assailant?

All of these questions and what-ifs were starting to make Kubo feel sick to his stomach, wondering if he was in some kind of sickening horror movie. There was always that ‘first victim’, the hapless, unsuspecting kind of person who always got the short end of the stick in, traditionally, the most graphic manner imaginable. Would he end up like that?

Then an even worse thought occurred to him. His  _ students. _

They were all alone, and much like Kubo, probably had no idea what was going on. If there was an actual assailant in the school…

_ No. _

The teacher pushed the ‘worst-case scenario’ thought out of his mind, along with all the grisly ramifications that accompanied it. There was no way he was going to let  _ any _ of them be in harm’s way. Not even Yota or Tetsuo, despite Kubo’s dislike for the bratty child and manchild.

He looked around his room once more, his weary, paranoid eyes landing on a peculiar thing buried underneath another pile of unorganized mess, the exposed part glinting in the pale moonlight.

Of course, how could he have forgotten?

The man rushed over to the object without wasting a second, pulling it out with ease. The mysterious artifact in question was technically called a ‘tekko-kagi’, but it had always reminded him of a cat’s claws, ready to tear into an opponent’s flesh with relative ease.

It was a gift from his parents, well, mostly a ‘take this so we’ll know you’ll be safe’ gift. To be completely honest, he never thought he’d  _ have _ to use it, but there’s a first time for everything, huh?

Thinking back on his parents, Kubo wondered if he’d ever see them again, or Nika. Sure, he had something to protect himself with, but would it be enough? Would  _ he _ be enough?

Well, if one thing was for certain, he wouldn’t let anything happen to his students, even if it cost his life. With that said, he slid the metal, clawed weapon onto his hands and went out into the night.

The hallways were chilly, but that was unsurprising as all he was wearing was a thin robe. What was surprising, however, was the strange silence that had settled in despite the ruckus that had occurred a handful of minutes ago.

What was going on?

Whatever the case, he knew he still had to keep his wits about him. A ninja should never let their guard down, no matter the situation.

Padding softly down the long, cold corridors of the school, he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. No, that was an understatement; everything was wrong. Not just with the mysterious disturbance in the school, but with everything that had happened in the last couple of months.

One could say that this ‘downward spiral’ of his started the moment he caught wind of Eizan’s accident with the bus. But it was merely an accident. A tragic one, but an accident nonetheless. Although Kubo was dismayed, his only role at the time was to give support to those that needed it, like Eizan.

But now?

That was last month, this was today. And today meant dealing with mutant blob-things of formerly dead Katana students and the absence of your boss, who might as well be the only person who can hold any sense of control.

Another noise.

Then another.

He looked for the source of the racket, but it was distant, taunting him to investigate further. But should he? Well, he was already this far, might as well go the extra mile. Ignoring the shaking in his legs, the man walked down the corridor, the commotion growing louder and more defined with each step.

As he came across a corner, the noise stopped, as if whoever was causing it could sense his presence. Sweet merciful… a bear didn’t break into the school, did it?!

Heart pounding in his chest, he cautiously turned the corner, claw weaponry at the ready. But what he saw made his blood run cold.

Vlad…

The aforementioned teacher was lying on the ground, unnaturally still, body covered in deep cuts, bruises, and other horrific injuries. Torn clothes, stained with blood, barely covered his body.

_ “V-Vlad?!” _ Kubo cried out, taking a couple of steps back as frightened tears stung his eyes, “W-What happened?!”

The man didn’t respond, not even to groan or acknowledge that he heard Kubo. It was like he was-

_ No, no, no, no, no. _

Pushing aside his terror, Kubo ran up to his downed friend, crouching beside them. The wounds looked even worse close up, but that wasn’t his main concern, that being his attempts to try to wake Vlad up. But no matter how many times the man nudged, prodded, or shook them, they wouldn’t wake up.

_ “Come on, please wake up, please...” _ Kubo’s voice trembled as he spoke, “I’m sorry, okay?! I’m sorry for being mad at you about the Ed thing, and for attacking you, I’m sure you had a good reason for it! I ...I shouldn’t have said what I said, but please wake-”

Another sound broke Kubo out of his trance, causing him to look up. He froze upon noticing the monstrous figure looming over his unconscious friend, casting a sizable shadow on the dimly lit wall. A shadow that could have been a bear’s, or another predator. 

The pure bloodthirst he could read in the person’s eyes, the only thing visible between layers of black cloth, only served to complete the picture.

He felt his grip on the weapon slacken.

“Who...who…”

_ Who are you? _

The figure didn’t answer. 

“Did… did you…”

He didn’t even need to finish his question, he _knew._ _“You did this.”_

With that, Kubo’s fear turned to fury as he gripped his weapon and lunged at the savage, swinging his clawed hand forward. They wouldn’t get away with this, even if that was the last… _no, he wasn’t going to die. Not here, not now._ _There was still so much he needed to do...and the Principal was counting on him. Still…_

His eyes locked with Vlad’s attackers’.

Still, he wouldn’t hold back. 

_ For Vlad. _


End file.
